Michael Li | |
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| Alma mater | Rockefeller College,Princeton University(BS),(PhD) Churchill College,University of Cambridge(Masters) Cornell Tech,Cornell University(Postdoc) Oregon Episcopal School |
| Occupation(s) | Data Scientist,Entrepreneur |
| Known for | The Data Incubator |
| Awards | Intel Science Talent Search (2003) Marshall Scholarship (2006) Hertz Fellowship (2007) National Science FoundationGraduate Research Fellowship Program (2007) |
| Website | https://tianhui.li/ |
| Michael Li | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Traditional Chinese | 李天惠 | ||||||
| Simplified Chinese | 李天惠 | ||||||
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Michael Li (born 1985,Portland, Oregon; Chinese name:Tianhui Li) is an Americandata scientist,entrepreneur, and the founder andChief Executive Officer ofThe Data Incubator, a data science training and placement company. Since 2023, he has also been serving as CTO at Aerial,[1] a legal-tech start-up helping companies manage their corporate information and scale fast.
Li attendedOregon Episcopal School inPortland,Oregon. In 2001, he was selected to perform with theOregon Symphony.[2] In 2003, he built a "desktop nuclear fusion reactor" based on work atNASA and won second place and $75,000 at theIntel Science Talent Search,[3][4] becoming the youngest person to date to build a"fusor" desktop nuclear fusion reactor and receiving press coverage inThe New York Times.[5] As a result of the competition, he has an asteroid (15083 Tianhuili) named after him.[6] He was also a semifinalist at theSiemens Westinghouse Competition, founder ofOregon Episcopal School's science bowl team, and a member ofUSA Today High SchoolAll-America First Team in 2003.[7]
Li graduated fromPrinceton University in 2007 with degrees inmathematics andcomputer science.[8] In 2006, he was selected as aMarshall Scholar[9] and in 2007, he was selected as both aNational Science FoundationGraduate Research Fellow and aHertz Fellow.[10] TheMarshall Scholarship program was established in 1953 as a British gesture of gratitude toward the United States for the assistance received after World War II under theMarshall Plan; theHertz Foundation awards $250,000 fellowships to Ph.D. students in the applied physical, biological and engineering sciences.Li readPart III of the Mathematical Tripos atChurchill College,Cambridge and completed hisPhD at Princeton University. He was one of two formerUSA Today High School AcademicAll-America First Team members to be also selected for theUSA Today CollegeAll-America First Team.[11] He was a fellow of the Princeton-Harvard China and the World Program[12] and co-chaired Princeton University's Undergraduate Research Symposium's steering committee.[8]
Li's academy research focused onmathematical finance. He has written a number of papers in the field, including a number coauthored withRobert Almgren onmarket impact andmarket microstructure and Patrick Cheridito onrisk measures onL^p spaces.[13] He was selected for the prestigiousCornell Tech Runway Program postdoc.[14]
After graduating, Li worked atD.E. Shaw,J.P. Morgan, andBloomberg and became the first data scientist in residence atAndreessen Horowitz.[15][16] He headeddata science monetization atFoursquare.[17][18] He is a regular contributor to publications likeHarvard Business Review,[19]MIT Sloan Management Review,[20]Tech Crunch,[21]Venture Beat,[22]Fast Company,[23]Entrepreneur Magazine,[24] andThe Wall Street Journal[25] discussing topics aroundequality in hiring,data analytics, andmathematics education.
In 2013, he foundedThe Data Incubator, a data science education company. The firm is best known for a free fellowship that helps students with PhDs transition from careers in academia to data science. The program attracts thousands of applicants regularly and is more selective thanHarvard University.[26] Li founded the program based on his own experience as aPhD trying to enter industry and data scientist hiring manager.[3] The Data Incubator has received press coverage inFinancial Times,[27]VentureBeat,[26]Computerworld,[28] and The Next Web.[29] He has been invited to speak at various conferences in theUnited Kingdom,[30]Malaysia,[31]Beijing,[32]Shanghai,[33] and atMIT Sloan School of Management.[34]
Li serves on theBoard of Directors for theAssociation of Marshall Scholars[35] and America Needs You, an American non-profit that pairs low-income first-generation college students with professional mentors.[36] He is also an advisor for The Innovation Enterprise,[37] Expii, the LendIt,[33] a member of theO'Reilly Strata programming committee,[38] and the National Leadership Council forSociety for Science and the Public.[39]