About

Hi! I’m Zikun Ye. I am currently a PhD candidate in Operations Research at University of Illinois Urbana Champaign, advised by Prof. Xin Chen and Prof. Dennis Zhang. I earned my Bachelor’s in Mathematics and Engineering with Zhiyuan honors from Shanghai Jiao Tong University in 2018.

I will be joining Foster School of Business, University of Washington as an Assistant Professor of Marketing and International Business starting Fall 2023.

Research Interests

My research seeks to address fundamental questions under the emerging trends in technology, marketplaces, and society. I am particularly enthusiastic about developing data-driven causal inference, field experiment, machine learning and optimization methodologies to evaluate and optimize the strategies in the contexts of digital platforms and marketplaces, especially their recommendation, advertising, and pricing policies. I’ve had the pleasure of working with platform companies including Kwai, Walmart Global Tech, LIVAD Technology, and DiDi.