College of Physical and Mathematical Sciences: 2007 Distinguished Alumnus

Office of College Advancement » Distinguished Alumnus

Since 1990, the college has annually recognized a graduate who has brought honor to its programs with his or her accomplishments in research, business, education and public service.

PAMS honors Jun Zhu as 2007 Distinguished Alumnus

Jun Zhu (PhD ’89 Statistics) was selected as the College’s 2007 Distinguished Alumnus.

“Jun Zhu is a distinguished leader of higher education in his country, and we are proud to call him an alumnus of our College,” said Dan Solomon, dean of PAMS.

Zhu received his master’s degree in genetics and plant breeding in 1982 from Zhejiang Agricultural University in Hangzhou in the Zheijiang province of China. He came to the U.S. in 1986 and earned his PhD in statistics and genetics from NC State in 1989.

After completing postdoctoral work in statistics at NC State, Zhu returned to China in 1990 as an associate professor in the Agronomy Department at Zhejiang Agricultural University.He quickly became a full professor and was named vice president in 1994, In 1999, four universities merged in the new consolidated Zhejiang University, with Zhu being named dean of the College of Agriculture and Biotechnology. Zhu served as dean until 2005, and was also named director of the Institute of Bioinformatics in 2001. In 2005, he was named vice president of Zhejiang University.

Tracing its roots back to 1897, the parent institution of Zhejiang University was heralded as the “East Cambridge” through its history. In its current form, Zhejiang consistently
ranks among the top universities in China for its comprehensive strength in
teaching, research and service.

The institution is similar to NC State in many ways. It has developed strong relationships
with industry, is successful in obtaining research funding and has similar
priorities in extension and engagement. Because of the tremendous number of things we have in common, Zhejiang University is NC State’s only sister university in China. As
vice president, Zhu enthusiastically leads the effort to establish collaborative initiatives with NC State.

Jun Zhu’s broad research interests include statistical and genetic models for quantitative genetics and bioinformatics.He is extensively published and has developed software for quantitative genetics and bioinformatics.

He is a member of the Biometric Society, the Genetics Society of China, the New York Academy of Science, the Crop Science Society of America, the American Association for the Advancement of Science and the international honor society, Phi Kappa Phi.

Previous Award Recipients

2006 W. Donald "Don" Johnson
BS '69 - Applied Mathematics (also MS and PhD from College of Engineering). Chairman and Representative Director, DuPont - Japan.

2005 Robert L. Bryant
BS '74 - Mathematics. J.M. Kreps Professor of Mathematics at Duke University.

2004 J. Stuart "Stu" Hunter
PhD '54 - Experimental Statistics. Professor Emeritus, Princeton University, School of Engineering and Applied Sciences

2003 Christine Hemrick
BS '74 - Mathematics. Vice President for technology policy and consulting engineering for Cisco Systems, Inc.

2002 Eric Doggett
BS '89 - Physics. Serves on the board of directors for the Cellular Telecommunications & Internet Association and on the board of advisors for the Metro Atlanta Chamber of Commerce.

2001 Eric Bigham
BS '69 - Chemistry. Research Investigator, GlaxoSmithKline

2000 Robert M. Steinberg
BS '64 - Applied Mathematics. Vice Chairman of Reliance Group Holdings, Inc.

1999 Suzanne Gordon
BS '75 - Mathematics, Computer Science, MS Statistics, Director of Management Information Systems at SAS Institute. Member of NC State Board of Trustees.

1998 David F. Bocian
BS '72 - Chemistry. Distinguished research in biophysical, physical-organic and materials chemistry. Professor at the University of California at Riverside.

1997 James W. York, Jr .
BS '62 - Physics. Agnew H. Bahnson Jr. Professor of Physics at UNC-Chapel Hill.

1996 W. Michael Peirson
PhD '83 - Marine, Earth and Atmospheric Sciences. Established Cherrystone AquaFarms in eastern Virginia.

1995 Anthony J. Barr
BS '62, MS '68 - Physics. Founder and major developer of the Statistical Analysis System from 1966-72; along with three others, formed SAS Institute Inc., in 1976; founded Barr Systems in Florida in 1978.

1994 William Mendenhall III
PhD '75 - Experimental Statistics. Started the University of Florida's Department of Statistics in 1963; prolific textbook writer.

1993 Jacob C. Belin, Jr
BS '70 - Applied Mathematics. President of Kern Oil & Refining Company in California.

1992 John E. Bercaw
BS '72 - Chemistry. Professor, California Institute of Technology; member, National Academy of Sciences.

1991 Charles D. Case
BS '72 - Physics. Environmental attorney and active community citizen.

1990 James H. Goodnight
BS '65, MS '68, PhD '72 - Statistics. Founder and CEO of SAS Institute, Inc.