Department of MathematicsThe majority of Duke PhD's go to postdoctoral positions at research universities or teaching positions at small colleges. A sizable minority elect to pursue careers in industry or at governmental agencies. (Many students explore careers beyond academic through summer internships.) See the table below for the "first jobs after graduation" for our recent graduates. Additional information can be found in the Graduate School's database; to access the information for the mathematics graduates, select "Physical Sciences" (Academic Divison) and "Mathematics" (Program), clicking "Apply" after each selection.
2020 - 2021
| PhD Student | Advisor | Thesis First Job After Graduation |
|---|---|---|
| Orsola Capovilla-Searle | Lenhard Ng | Exact Lagrangian fillings of Legendrian Links and Weinstein 4-manifolds NSF postdoc at UC Davis |
| Dena Ho | Les Saper | Realizing Hecke Actions on Modular Forms Via Cohomology of Dessins d'Enfants Ernst & Young |
| Eric Hopper | Richard Hain | Cyclotomic and Elliptic Polylogarithms and Motivic Extensions of Q by Q(m) Postdoc at U Rochester |
| Xiangying (Zoe) Huang | Richard Durrett | Contact Process on Random Graphs and Trees Postdoc at UBC |
| Oliver Kelsey Tough | James Nolen | Asymptotic Behaviour of the Fleming-Viot Process Postdocs at Université de Neuchâtel |
| Chao Shen | Hau-tieng Wu | Robust and scalable unsupervised learning via landmark diffusion, from theory to medical application Amazon Applied Scientist |
| Kevin Stubbs | Jianfeng Lu | Exponentially Localized Wannier Functions in Non-Periodic Insulators Postdoc at UCLA |
| Lihan Wang | Jianfeng Lu | Quantitative Analysis in Stochastic Homogenization and Hypocoercive PDEs in Sampling Postdoc at Carnegie Mellon |
| Xin Xiong | Richard Hain | Hodge theory and string topology |
| Dong Yao | Richard Durrett | Epidemics on Evolving Graphs Asst Prof at Jiangsu Normal University |
| Yiyue Zhang | Hubert Bray | The Hyperbolic Positive Mass Theorem and Volume Comparison Involving Scalar Curvature Postdoc at UC Irvine |
| |
2019 - 2020
| PhD Student | Advisor | Thesis First Job After Graduation |
|---|---|---|
| Matthew Beckett | Mark Stern | Equivariant Nahm Transforms and Minimal Yang-Mills Connections |
| Michael Bell | Robert Bryant | Second Order Families of Minimal Lagrangians in CP³ |
| Yu Cao | Jianfeng Lu | Analytical and Numerical Study of Lindblad Equations Instructor at the Courant Institute, NYU |
| Joshua Cruz | Les Saper | |
| William Duncan | Mike Reed | Homeostasis-Bifurcation Singularities and Identifiability of Feedforward Networks Postdoctoral Researcher in Mathematical Sciences at Montana State University |
| Gabriel Earl | Jonathan Mattingly | Stratified MCMC Sampling for Non-Reversible Dynamics Postdoc at Duke, postdoc at U Mass |
| Shalla Hanson | Mike Reed | Mathematical Modelling of Immuno-Oncology and Related Immunology Mathematical Modeler at Immunetrics, Inc. |
| Jeffrey LaComb | Jianfeng Lu | Asymptotic Analysis and Rare Event Simulation for Failure Probabilities in Discrete Random Media Assistant Teaching Professor in Mathematics at Drexel University |
| Jessica Leete | Anita Layton | Sex-specific Computational Models of Blood Pressure Regulation |
| John Malik | Hau-tieng Wu | A Geometric Approach to Biomedical Time Series Analysis Research Fellow in Biomedical Informatics at Harvard Medical School |
| Erika Ordog | Ezra Miller | Minimal Resolutions of Monomial Ideals Visiting Assistant Professor at Texas A&M |
| Sarah Patterson | Anita Layton | Extensions of the Immersed Interface Method to Open Tube Interfaces and Hemodynamic Models Assistant professor at the Virginia Military Institute |
| Shan Shan | Ingrid Daubechies | Probabilistic Model on Fibre Bundle Assistant Professor at Mount Holyoke College |
| Kyle Thicke | Jianfeng Lu | Accelerating the Computation of Density Functional Theory’s Correlation Energy Under Random Phase Approximations Postdoc researcher at Technical University of Munich |
| Do Tran | Ezra Miller | Sampling from Stratified Spaces Research Postdoc at the Institute for Mathematical Stochastics, Goettingen University |
| Thomas Tran | Jayce Getz | Secondary Terms in Asymptotics for the Number of Zeros of Quadratic Forms Postdoc in Mathematics at the University of Kentucky |
2018 - 2019
| PhD Student | Advisor(s) | First Job After Graduation |
|---|---|---|
| Gavin Ball | Robert Bryant | Postdoc at U Quebec |
| Erin Beckman | James Nolen | Postdoc at McGill |
| Michael Casey | Sayan Mukherjee | |
| Ryan Gunderson | Robert Bryant | Quantative Researcher at Susquehana International Group |
| Ran Huo | Rick Durrett | Postdoc at U Melbourne |
| Chester Lian | Lenhard Ng | Software Engineer at Google |
| Weifan Liu | Tom Witelski | Postdoc at Syracuse U |
| Rubio Ma | Rick Durrett | Postdoc at Peking U |
| Dmitry Vagner | Ezra Miller | Simulation Scientist at Imbellus AI Research |
| Jieren Xu | Ingrid Daubechies | Postdoc at Duke U |
2017 - 2018
| PhD Student | Advisor(s) | First Job After Graduation |
|---|---|---|
| Hamza Ghadyali | John Harer | |
| Yuhao Hu | Robert Bryant | Colorado U, Boulder |
| Ma Luo | Richard Hain | Postdoc at Oxford U |
| Robert Ravier | Ingrid Daubechies | Postdoc at Duke iin ECE and Math |
| Jieren Xu | Ingrid Daubechies | Postdoc at Duke in ECE |
| Zhiyong Zhao | Robert Bryant | Bloomberg |
2016 - 2017
| PhD Student | Advisor(s) | First Job After Graduation |
|---|---|---|
| Brian Fitzpatrick | Paul Aspinwall | Instructor, Duke University |
| Lizzy Huang | Mark Stern | Quantitative Analytics, Freddie Mac, Washington, DC |
| Hangie Ji | Tom Witelski | Assistant Professor, Program in Computing at UCLA. |
| Aki Nishimura | David Dunson | Postdoc, UCLA |
| Yu Pan | Lenhard Ng | Moore Instructorship, MIT |
| Henry Roesch | Hugh Bray | NSF Postdoc, UC Irvine |
| Chao Xu | Jianfeng Lu | Start-up, San Francisco area |
| Rachel Yin | Ingrid Daubechies | Google, Cambridge MA |
2015 - 2016
| PhD Student | Advisor(s) | First Job After Graduation |
|---|---|---|
| Philip Andreae | Mark Stern | Assistant Professor, Meredith College |
| Humberto Diaz | Chad Schoen | Visiting Assistant Professor, University of California at Riverside |
| Caitlin Leverson | Lenhard Ng | Postdoctoral Fellow, Georgia Institute of Technology |
| Ezgi Temogullari | Michael C. Reed | Postdoctoral Fellow, University of Texas, Southwestern, Cell Biology |
| Harrison Potter | Thomas P. Witelski | Assistant Professor, Marietta College |
| Kangkang Wang | Paul S. Aspinwall | Software Engineer, Google, Inc. |
2014 - 2015
| PhD Student | Advisor(s) | First Job After Graduation |
|---|---|---|
| Ben Gaines | Paul Aspinwall | Assistant Professor, Iona College in New Rochelle, NY |
| Tingran Gao | Ingrid Daubechies | Postdoctoral position at Duke |
| Andrew Goetz | Hugh Bray | Visiting Assistant Professor, University of California, Santa Cruz |
| Kevin Kordek | Richard Hain | Visiting Assistant Professor, Texas A&M |
| Anil Venkatesh | Richard Hain | Assistant Professor, Ferris State University |
| Tatsunari Watanabe | Richard Hain | Golomb Visiting Assistant Professor, Purdue University |
| Yuan Zhang | Richard Durrett | Adjunct Assistant Professor, University of California, Los Angeles |
2013 - 2014
| PhD Student | Advisor(s) | First Job After Graduation |
|---|---|---|
| Miles Crosskey | Mauro Maggioni | Post-doc for Maurio Maggioni, Duke University |
| Sean Lawley | Mike Reed, Jonathan Mattingly | Post-doc, University of Utah |
| Junchi Li | Rick Durrett | Quantitative Strategy Researcher, Sunrise Futures |
| Chris O'Neill | Ezra Miller | Post-doc, Texas A&M University |
| Ioannis Sgouralis | Anita Layton | NIMBioS University of Tennessee |
| Hwayeon Ryu | Anita Layton, Jim Nolan | Credit Model Validation Analyst, U.S. Bancorp. |
| Hangjun Xu | Hugh Bray | Oracle, Senior Software Engineer, Santa Clara, CA |
2012 - 2013
| PhD Student | Advisor(s) | First Job After Graduation |
|---|---|---|
| Hyeong-kwan Kim | Bill Pardon | University of North Carolina-Asheville |
| Yi Li | Anita Layton | Avanade Business Consulting |
| ShiShi Luo | Mike Reed, Jonathan Mattingly | Post-doc with Alana Perelson, Los Alamos National Laboratory |
| Elizabeth Munch | John Harer | Post-doc, Institute for Mathematics and its Application (IMA), Minneapolis, MN |
| Alan Parry | Hugh Bray | University of Connecticut |
2011 - 2012
| PhD Student | Advisor(s) | First Job After Graduation |
|---|---|---|
| Prakash Balachandran | Mauro Maggioni | Post-doc with Eric Kolazyck, Boston University |
| Esteban Chavez | Jim Nolen | Post-doc, University of California - Santa Barbara |
| Kevin Gonzalez | David Schaeffer | Assistant Professor, Shaw University |
| Aaron Jackson | Stephanos Venakides | Financial Applications Engineer, Bloomberg |
| Tiffany Kolba | Jonathan Mattingly | Tenure track position, Valparaiso University |
| Michael Pruitt | Tom Beale | Post-doc, University of Connecticut |
| David Rose | Lenny Ng | Busemann Assistant Professor, University of Southern California |
| Sara Schott | Mark Huber | Assistant Professor of the Practice, Duke University |
2010 - 2011
| PhD Student | Advisor(s) | First Job After Graduation |
|---|---|---|
| Amir Aazami | Arlie Petters | Post-doc Fellow, Kavli Institute for Physics and Mathematics of the Universe, Japan |
| Matthew Bowen | David Schaeffer | Epic Systems Corporation |
| Graham Cox | Hugh Bray | Lorenz Post-doc, University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill |
| Oliver Gjoneski | Les Saper | J.J. Sylvester Assistant Professor, Johns Hopkins University |
| Aubrey HB | John Harer | Senior Statistician at FAIR Health New York |
| Michael Jenista | Statistician, SAS, Cary, NC | |
| George Mau-Kwong Lam | Hugh Bray | Finance position in Hong Kong |
| Anna Little | Mauro Maggioni | Assistant Professor, University of Jacksonville |
| Alberto Teguia | Arlie Petters | MBA Program, Jones Graduate School of Business, Rice University |
2009 - 2010
| PhD Student | Advisor(s) | First Job After Graduation |
|---|---|---|
| Jeffrey Jauregui | Hugh Bray | Post-doc, University of Pennsylvania |
| Arya Roy | Paul Aspinwall | Instructor of Physics, Duke University |
| Rachel Thomas | Jonathan Mattingly, Mike Reed | Mathematical Analyst, UBER |
| Andrea Watkins | Jonathan Mattingly | National Security Agency |
| Jason Wilson | Tom Beale | Virginia Tech Mathematics |
2008 - 2009
| PhD Student | Advisor(s) | First Job After Graduation |
|---|---|---|
| Rann Bar-On | John Harer | Instructor, Duke University |
| Shu Dai | David Schaeffer | Mathematical Bioscience Institute, Ohio State University |
| Mihaela Froelich | Tom Witelski | Homemaker, Heidelberg |
| Jenny Wai-Jing Law | Mark Huber | National Security Agency |
| Janice McCarthy | Mark Stern | Instructor, Biostatistics and Bioinformatics |
| Abraham Smith | Robert Bryant | Post-doc, McGill University |
2007 - 2008
| PhD Student | Advisor(s) | First Job After Graduation |
|---|---|---|
| Sergei Belov | Stephanos Venakides | Rice University |
| Paul Bendich | John Harer | Institute of Science and Technology, Austria |
| Benjamin Cooke-Isard | Scott Schmidler | Academic Resource Center, Duke University |
| Michael Gratton | Thomas Witelski | Post-doc, Northwestern University |
| Anthony Narkawicz | Richard Hain | NASA Langley |
| Michael Nicholas | Tom Beale | Tulane University |
| Nicholas Robbins | Hugh Bray | St. Mary's College of Maryland |
| Joseph Spivey | Richard Hain | Wofford University |
| Matthew Surles | Thomas Beale | Wellpoint Inc., Richmond, VA |
| Feng Xu | Robert Bryant | Australian National University |
2006 - 2007
| PhD Student | Advisor(s) | First Job After Graduation |
|---|---|---|
| Ryan Haskett | Thomas Witelski | Highbridge Capital |
| William Lefew | Stephanos Venakides | Environmental Protection Agency |
| Timothy Lucas | William Allard | Pepperdine University |
| Jeffrey Streets | Mark Stern | Princeton University |