I am a final-year Ph.D. candidate in Operations Management at the Robert H. Smith School of Business, University of Maryland, affiliated with the Institute for Trustworthy AI in Law & Society and the Maryland Language Science Center. I am very fortunate to be advised by Professor Wedad J. Elmaghraby. Prior to my doctoral studies, I earned a Master’s degree in Applied Statistics from the University of Michigan–Ann Arbor and a dual Bachelor’s degree in Financial Management and Mathematical Statistics from Xiamen University.

I am on the 2026-2027 academic job market.

Research Interests

My research studies how artificial intelligence can improve decision-making in operations, particularly in business environments shaped by human interaction and unstructured data. I focus on problems at the intersection of marketplace analytics, service operations, and AI for social good. Methodologically, I draw on optimization, causal inference, and machine learning, particularly natural language processing, to analyze unstructured data, uncover business insights, and tackle complex operations challenges.

My recent work has received several awards, including CIST 2025 Best Student Paper Runner-up, Best Student Paper Presentation Finalist at the AI in Business Conference at OSU, and Winner of the INFORMS MIF Summer Webinar Competition. It has also been covered by The New York Times, Financial Times, Business Insider, El Confidencial, and The Register.

Upcoming Talks

• INFORMS Workshop on Data Mining and Decision Analytics
  Escaping the Nash Trap: Structural Estimation and Alignment of Strategic Reasoning in Large Language Models
  October 31, 2026
  Session A2, 8:00–9:15 AM, Moscone Center South-202 (Level 2)

• INFORMS Workshop on Data Science
  Escaping the Nash Trap: Structural Estimation and Alignment of Strategic Reasoning in Large Language Models
  🏆 Best Student Paper Award Finalist (Winner TBA)
  October 31, 2026
  Track B2, 10:45–12:00 PM, Moscone Center South-205 (Level 2)

• CIST 2026
  Escaping the Nash Trap: Structural Estimation and Alignment of Strategic Reasoning in Large Language Models
  November 1, 2026
  SU5.1, 3:35-3:43 PM, Continental 1-3, Hilton Union Square

• INFORMS 2026
  The AI Supply Chain: Overproduction in Model Marketplaces
  Job Market Paper
  November 1, 2026
  Job market showcase, Session SE29, 5:05-5:30 PM, Moscone Center South-207 (Level 2)

Contact

Email: jiannan@umd.edu