Curriculum Vitae of Alexander Yong

• Employment
  • Department of Mathematics, University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign, Professor (2016-).
  • Department of Mathematics, University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign, Associate Professor (2012-2016).
  • Department of Mathematics, University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign, Assistant Professor (2008-12).
  • Department of Mathematics, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, Dunham Jackson Assistant Professor (2005-2008).
  • University of California, Berkeley, Visiting Assistant Professor (2003-2005).

• Education
  • University of Michigan at Ann Arbor, Ph.D. in Mathematics (2003) [advisor: Sergey Fomin].
  • University of Waterloo, Canada , M.Math. (1999) [advisor: Ian Goulden] and B.Math. (1998).

• Research interests: Combinatorics and relations to algebra, geometry and other areas of mathematics.

• Homepage at http://ayong.web.illinois.edu has links to downloadable papers (with brief abstracts), etc.

• Honors:
• (2025) George Francis Student Engagement Award (Dept. Mathematics, UIUC)
• (2008-Present) UIUC List of Teachers ranked excellent (20+ times)
• (2023) Arnold O. Beckman Award (Campus Research Board, UIUC)
• (2020-2021) UIUC Center for Advanced Study Associate
• (2018) Distinguished Teaching Award for Tenured Faculty (Dept. Mathematics, UIUC)
• (2018) Arnold O. Beckman Award (Campus Research Board, UIUC)
• (2012-2013) Helen Corley Petit Scholar (College of Liberal Arts and Sciences, UIUC)
• (2011) G. de B. Robinson Award of the Canadian Math Society (with Hugh Thomas)
• (2011-2012) UIUC Center for Advanced Study/Beckman Fellow
• (2005-2006) National Science and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC) Postdoctoral fellowship
• (1998) K.D. Fryer Gold Medal, University of Waterloo

• Grants/scholarships:
• (2024-2027) NSF conference grant DMS 2428573, PI
• (2023-2028) Simons Travel Support for Mathematicians grant
• (2020-2025) NSF RTG in combinatorics DMS 1937241, co-PI (PI: Jozsi Balogh, co-PIs: Philippe DiFrancesco, Rinat Kedem, Sasha Kostochka)
• (2019-2022) NSF conference grant DMS 1848607, PI
• (2018-2023) Simons Collaboration grant
• (2015-2019) NSF standard grant DMS 1500691, PI
• (2015-2018) NSF conference grant DMS 1518871, PI
• (2012-2016) NSF standard grant DMS 1201595, PI
• (2014-2015) Campus research board UIUC, PI; funding for a Research Assistant
• (2012-2013) Campus research board UIUC, PI; funding for a Research Assistant
• (2011-2014) NSF Conference grant DMS 1146096
• (2010-2011) Campus Research Board UIUC, PI; funding for Research Assistant.
• (2009-2012) NSF standard grant DMS 0901331, PI
• (2006-2009) NSF standard grant DMS 0601010, Co-PI (PI: Victor Reiner)
• (2006-2007) U. Minnesota Digital Technology center grant (award amount total: $24,671); for research in applied algorithms, Co-PI with David Redish (Neuroscience), (PI Duane Nykamp)
• (2006) Fields Institute funding to organize "Workshop on Computational and Combinatorial commutative algebra" ($4000 Canadian), PI
• (2002) Rackham Dissertation Fellowship, U. Michigan
• (1998-1999) NSERC PGS A Scholarship for graduate studies
• (1994-1998) Descartes Mathematics Fellowship, University of Waterloo
• (1994-1998) Canada Fellowship, national 4 year award

  Some recent Professional Activities:

• Founding Member of the Association for Mathematical Research
• Editorial Board: Algebraic combinatorics (ALCO) , Annals of Combinatorics
• Mentoring: see here
• IMPAGA 2020 conference scientific committee
• Subtraction free combinatorics conference (in honor of Sergey Fomin's 60th birthday); organizing committee.
• Formal Power Series and Algebraic Combinatorics Conference 2010, 2014, 2017, 2026 Program committee
• Agora days instructor at Uni High School (Urbana), 2015, 2016, 2017
• Illinois High School Math finals oral presentation judge, 2011, 2014 and 2016, 2019
• Review committee of mathematics program at the Illinois Math and Science Academy (2019)
• UIUC Graduate college executive committee

• Additional CV: .pdf

• Contacts
  Address: Department of Mathematics, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, 1409 W. Green Street, Urbana, IL 61801, USA.
  Email: ayong@illinois.edu
  Phone: (217) 244-5120
  Fax: (217) 333-9576

Last modified: January 2025