Few things are as gratifying as seeing our students reach their goals. This graduation season we shine a special spotlight on three of our new PhDs in Applied Mathematics, pictured above (from left to right): Xuan Ma, Zhuojun Yu, and Mercy Amankwah.

Mercy Amankwah received her PhD in Applied Mathematics in May 2024. Her thesis is titled “Bayesian analysis of muscle recruitment patterns in Locomotion”. Mercy earned a BS in Mathematics from Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology Kumasi in Ghana in 2016, an MPhil in Scientific Computing and Industrial Modeling from the same institution in 2018, and an MS degree in Mathematics from Montana State University in 2019. Dr. Amankwuah is currently weighing different employment options.

Xuan Ma also received the PhD degree in Applied Mathematics in May 2024. Her thesis is titled “Polya-Gamma data augmentation schemes for Bayesian negative Binomial and Binomial models with application to Mitochondrial DNA data”. Xuan earned a BS in Finance from Central University of Finance and Economics in China in 2012 and an MS in Financial Engineering from University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign in 2013. After working as an IT Risk and Assurance Consultant for a few years, Xuan joined CWRU and earned an MS in Statistics in 2018. Now she adds a PhD in Applied Mathematics to her collection of degrees. Dr. Ma is currently working as a Biostatistician at Henry Ford Health in Detroit.

Zhuojun Yu successfully defended her PhD thesis, titled “Closed-Loop Control of Rhythmic Motor Behaviors” in May 2024 and will receive the PhD degree in Applied Mathematics in August 2024. Zhuojun earned a BS Mathematics and Applied Mathematics and a BA in English Language and Literature from Beijing Normal University in China in 2020 and joined MAMS that same year. Dr. Yu will join the Neuroscience Institute and Psychology Department at Carnegie Mellon University as postdoctoral research associate in July.

Congratulations Dr. Amankwah, Dr. Ma, and Dr. Yu!