People

Italo Simonelli

Senior Lecturer in Mathematics, Duke Kunshan University

Email: italo.simonelli@dukekunshan.edu.cn

His primary research interests lie in the fields of probability, statistics, combinatorics and graph theory. His teaching interests at Duke Kunshan include data science and discrete mathematics. He is the co-author of two books, “Bonferroni-type Inequalities with Applications” (Springer’s Applied Probability Series, 1996) and “Products of Random Variables: Applications to Problems of Physics and to Arithmetical Functions” (Marcel Dekker, 2004). He also has had papers published in leading academic journals including Annals of Probability, SIAM Journal of Discrete Mathematics, Theory and Decisions, and Journal of Multivariate Analysis. Simonelli has a master’s degree and Ph.D. from Temple University, Philadelphia. Before joining Duke Kunshan, he was a professor of mathematics at McDaniel College, Westminster, U.S. Previously he was an associate professor of mathematics at Texas A&M University, Commerce.

Jian-Guo Liu

Professor of Physics, and Mathematics, Duke University, Professor of Physics, and Mathematics, Duke Kunshan University, Co-Director of the Zu Chongzhi Center

Email: jian-guo.liu@duke.edu

He has B.S. and M.S. in Fudan University (China), and a Ph.D. in University of California at Los Angeles. Dr. Liu is a Fellow of American Mathematical Society. His research interest includes applied mathematics, partial differential equations, kinetic theory, computational fluid dynamics, numerical analysis, nonlinear dynamics, fluid dynamics, complex fluids, emergent behavior and self-organization, etc.

Konstantinos Efstathiou

Associate Professor of Mathematics, Duke Kunshan University, Co-Director of the Zu Chongzhi Center

Email: k.efstathiou@dukekunshan.edu.cn

He received his B.Sc. and M.Sc. in Physics from the University of Athens, Greece, and his Ph.D. in Physics from the His research interests are in the general areas of dynamical systems and mathematical physics, with the main focus being on the geometry of integrable Hamiltonian systems and the dynamics of coupled oscillator networks. He has published a monograph on integrable Hamiltonian systems and his research has appeared prestigious journals. His teaching interests at Duke Kunshan include foundational and advanced mathematics, with an emphasis on teaching innovation and student activation and inclusion. Over a 14-year teaching career, he has taught mathematics and physics courses at introductory and advanced levels, and has received a best teacher award for his Calculus for Chemistry course. Efstathiou has a B.Sc. and M.Sc. in physics from the University of Athens, Greece, and a Ph.D. (highest distinction) in physics from the Universite Littoral Cote d’Opale, France. He also has an Undergraduate Teaching Qualification. Before joining Duke Kunshan, he was an assistant professor at the University of Groningen, the Netherlands. In 2012 and 2013, he was a lecturer in the Department of Mathematical Sciences, Xi’an Jiaotong Liverpool University, where he also served as acting head of department.

Lin Jiu

Assistant Professor of Mathematics, Duke Kunshan University

Email: lin.jiu@dukekunshan.edu.cn

His research focus includes number theory, combinatorics, symbolic computation, and probability. He is mainly interested in using symbolic computation and experimental mathematics to study topics in analytic number theory and combinatorics. He has published papers in leading academic journals including the Journal of Number Theory and the Journal of Symbolic Computation. Jiu has a B.Sc. and a M.Sc. from the Beijing Institute of Technology and a Ph.D. from Tulane University, New Orleans. He served as a postdoc consecutively at the Research Institute for Symbolic Computation, Johannes Kepler University, Austria; Johann Radon Institute for Computational and Applied Mathematics, Austrian Academy of Science, Austria; and Dalhousie University, Canada.

Marcus Werner

Associate Professor of Mathematics, Duke Kunshan University

Email: marcus.werner@dukekunshan.edu.cn

His research is in mathematical physics, at the intersection of geometry and astrophysics. In particular, he is interested in general relativity, its modifications and applications, such as mathematical properties of gravitational lensing. His teaching interests at Duke Kunshan are in the applied mathematics major, especially geometrical topics, and in developing interdisciplinary courses. He has published in leading academic journals and has been a member of the American Mathematical Society, the Royal Astronomical Society (U.K.), and the German Physical Society. Werner has an M.A., an M.Nat.Sci. and a Ph.D. from the University of Cambridge. Before joining Duke Kunshan, he taught in Duke University’s Department of Mathematics before moving to Japan in 2011 to serve first as a researcher at the University of Tokyo’s Kavli Institute for the Physics and Mathematics of the Universe and then as a Hakubi assistant professor at Kyoto University.