Jing Ping, a first-year graduate student at the Center for Data Science, is the first recipient of the Glen de Vries Permanent Fellowship Fund. The newly-established fellowship provides tuition assistance to one student each year in the CDS master’s program at the Courant Institute of Mathematical Sciences.
Originally from China, Jing Ping initially studied at the University of International Business and Economics in Beijing before coming to America. It was there that she met several Chinese professors who had spent time in the United States, which eventually led to her attending the University of Minnesota: Twin Cities in Minneapolis, MN, where she received her undergraduate degree. “I planned to study abroad when I was very young,” Jing says.
Having experienced both countries’ educational systems, Jing can positively state that it is the combination of Chinese and American educational backgrounds that have contributed to her success today. “Chinese students are hard-working, and are taught patience and perseverance. We have good mathematical skills and memorization ability, and we know how to study effectively,” she explains. “In America, you have more freedom to choose your own classes and to pursue more than one major as an undergraduate. At the University of Minnesota, I was a triple major: mathematics, statistics and economics.”
Jing’s path to the Courant Institute and the de Vries Fellowship
With mathematics being one of Jing’s three majors, it’s not surprising that she became aware of the Courant Institute of Mathematical Sciences, and subsequently, the Center for Data Science, while at the University of Minnesota. “It has a leading mathematics department,” she says. “I was interested in good computational mathematics and statistics programs and I knew there were some distinguished professors in computational mathematics and probability theory at Courant.”
Jing was accepted for admission and had already started classes at CDS when she was informed that she was the first recipient of the Glen de Vries fellowship. “I was told by Roy Lowrance [Managing Director of the Center for Data Science] and Professor Rob Fergus that I had gotten this scholarship, based on my outstanding undergraduate achievements.”
When she heard the news, Jing says, she was very excited. “I am happy that people noticed what I am doing, that I am studying hard, and that they want to support it. It gives me energy to work even harder.”
Unquestionably, data is Ping’s thing
As an undergrad, Ping took a statistics class from renowned statistician Dennis Cook, and found that she really liked dealing with data. “It’s like solving puzzles, or treasure hunting,” she describes, “because you can find valuable information in some otherwise meaningless data. I think this is very interesting.”
To her delight, Dennis Cook introduced Ping and others in his class to statistical graphics, regression analysis and computational statistics. “He made the applications real to us,” she says. And thus, her love of data was born.
After her degree, Ping wants to stay in data analysis
Once she has completed the two-year Master of Science program at CDS, Ping is excited to begin work as a data analyst. “Any kind of job dealing with data,” she states. “I would like a challenging job.” She then adds emphatically, “I believe the Center for Data Science is giving me a very good background to get a job which will be a good fit for me.”
Congratulations, Jing Ping, for your prior accomplishments, for being awarded the Glen de Vries fellowship, for your present studies, and most of all, for your many exciting achievements yet to come.
By ML Ball