Zhilan Feng facts for kids

Zhilan Julie Feng, born in 1959, is a brilliant Chinese-American mathematician. She uses math to understand real-world problems. Her work helps us learn about how diseases spread. She also studies how populations of living things grow and change.

Dr. Feng is a professor of mathematics at Purdue University. She also works for the National Science Foundation. There, she helps decide which math projects get important funding.

Her Amazing Math Journey

Zhilan Julie Feng started her math studies in China. She went to Jilin University. She earned her first degree in 1982 and a master's degree in 1985.

Later, she moved to the United States. She continued her studies at Arizona State University. In 1994, she earned her Ph.D., which is a very high degree. Her special project was about how math models can show how childhood diseases spread.

After finishing her Ph.D., she did more research at Cornell University. In 1996, she joined Purdue University as a professor. She became a full professor in 2005. In 2019, she also started working at the National Science Foundation.

What She's Known For

Dr. Feng is highly respected in the world of mathematics. In 2022, she was named a Fellow of the American Mathematical Society. This honor was given to her because of her important work. She uses math to help us understand biology, how nature works, and how diseases spread.

Books She Wrote

Zhilan Julie Feng has also written or helped write several important books. These books share her knowledge with other scientists and students. They often focus on using math to understand diseases and living things.

Some of her books include:

• Disease Evolution: Models, Concepts, and Data Analyses (2006)
• Applications of Epidemiological Models to Public Health Policymaking: The role of heterogeneity in model predictions (2014)
• Mathematical Models of Plant-Herbivore Interactions (2018)
• Mathematical Models in Epidemiology (2019)