Sayan Mukherjee, a Professor of Statistical Science, Mathematics, and Biostatistics & Bioinformatics, passed away unexpectedly on Monday, March 31. He was 54 years old.
Since 2022, Mukherjee was in Germany as the Alexander von Humboldt Professor for Artificial Intelligence, a prestigious position shared between Leipzig University and the Max Plank Institute for Mathematics in the Sciences. He retained his affiliation with Duke, where he had been a professor since 2004.
Prior to Duke, Mukherjee obtained his Ph.D. at MIT in 2001, after which he completed a Sloan Postdoctoral Fellowship at the Broad Institute.
“What do I love about Math? It’s beautiful,” Mukherjee said in an interview with the Alexander Von Humbolt Foundation. “You name these amazing abstract ideas, and they become real. Sometimes they even become real in applications. There is a real beauty to that.”
Colleagues at Duke and other institutions praised him for his scholarship, his supportive nature, his friendship and his good humor. He built an international reputation as a scholar and forged strong connections with peers and students alike.
“Sayan was a brilliant scientist who cared deeply about science, our human condition and individual people. He was a dedicated mentor who regularly went above and beyond. He had many collaborators and, above all, friends at Duke. He will be deeply missed,” said Jonathan Mattingly, the Kimberly J. Jenkins Distinguished University Professor of New Technologies in the Department of Mathematics.
Mukherjee’s research focused on developing computational and statistical methods to analyze and understand multidimensional complex data, “data that are really complex or strange, things like shapes, surfaces, things that aren't just a number or a vector, things that have a really complicated structure,” as he described in an interview with the Rhodes Information Initiative at Duke.
This combination of theoretical and applied research, as well as the nature of the data he explored, meant that Mukherjee’s work was extremely interdisciplinary, crossing bridges between statistics, mathematics and computer science, but also biology and medicine.
Mattingly said Mukherjee was hired initially by the School of Medicine as part of the Computational Biology and Medicine Initiative, and he evolved into a campus leader in Computational Genomics, Statistical Modeling and Computation, and the Mathematics and Geometry of Data. His leadership was reflected in his joint primary appointments in Statistical Science and Mathematics, and secondary appointments in Computer Science and Biostatistics & Bioinformatics, Mattingly said.
Mukherjee gained international reputation by developing a statistical method called Gene Set Enrichment Analysis (GSEA), through which one can infer the possible role played by different groups of genes in the formation of cancers. More recently, his work on topological data analysis led to innovations in the field of medical imaging and its potential to detect certain diseases.
"Dr. Mukherjee will be remembered as an outstanding scholar, a supportive colleague, and an important link between mathematics and statistics," said Hongkai Zhao, professor of Mathematics and department chair.
Amy Herring, the Sara and Charles Ayres Distinguished Professor of Statistical Science and department chair, said Mukherjee made important contributions in a remarkable breadth of areas and he was “unquestionably” a brilliant scholar. “What could definitely be questioned, however, were his sartorial choices,” Herring said. “I remember Sayan in flip-flops and a T-shirt. Often the tee was grungy, and typically it bore a punchy message. Almost certainly that message would start a conversation, and Sayan loved to engage in conversation with people. We’ll miss having the opportunity to talk with him about work and about life.”
“Sayan was a comet — sparkling with ideas, full of energy and with a fascinating ability to captivate those around him,” said Professor László Székelyhidi, Managing Director of the Max Planck Institute for Mathematics in the Sciences.
"Sayan was a deeply kind person, often helping others through difficult situations. He loved telling stories to both adults and children. His vast knowledge—of history, science, music, mythology, and just about everything—meant you never quite knew what the story would be about, but it almost always ended with a ridiculous punchline, " said Mary Knox, a research scientist undergraduate course coordinator in Statistical Science. "He was also an incredible cook who enjoyed preparing delicious feasts for friends. There were so many things to love about Sayan. His loss is deeply felt."
“Sayan was a brilliant scientist and a dear friend. I will deeply miss our conversations, his vast knowledge — spanning everything from statistics to music to politics — and his wonderful sense of humor,” said Professor of the Practice of Statistical Science Mine Cetinkaya-Rundel. “His passing leaves a profound void in both our personal lives and the scientific community. He will be sorely missed by all.”
A celebration of life for Mukherjee will be held on April 19 at 10:30 a.m. at Duke University in Gross Hall 107. More information and a livestream to the service can be found on the memorial website.