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Zz Zhu

Zz Zhu

Clinical Associate Professor
Quantitative Methods

Education

Ph.D. in Statistics
MS in Mathematics

CV

Professor Zhu currently serves as the academic director of the BS Business Analytics and Information Management (BAIM) program and teaches graduate and undergraduate courses in Business Analytics and Data Science at the Daniels School of Business at Purdue University. Recognized for his excellence in teaching, he was honored as one of the "Best Undergraduate Professors" by Poets & Quants in 2023. Additionally, he has been awarded a grant by the Fulbright Foreign Scholarship Board and will collaborate on an "Achieve Excellence of Business Analytics Teaching and Research" international project in 2024. His research interests are in Business Analytics, Data Science and AI, and Insurance Risk Management. 

Before joining Purdue University, Professor Zhu amassed over 15 years of industry experience, specializing in establishing and managing business analytics functions within major global and U.S. insurance companies. Held positions include: 

  • Senior Vice President of Consumer Data and Analytics at Swiss Re (a global leading reinsurer)
  • Vice President of Risk Modeling and Analytics at SCOR Global Life (a global leading reinsurer)
  • Vice President of Advanced Analytics at Assurant Health (a S&P 500 company),

He holds a Ph.D. in Statistics from Michigan State University and a Master's degree in Mathematics from Central South University (China).

Journal Articles

  • Zhiwei Zhu (2024). "Rethinking Data Science Singularity." Harvard Data Science Review vol. 6.1
  • Zhiwei Zhu (2024). "Data Science: Connecting the Past and Pioneering the Future of Analytics." INFORMS Analytics Magazine
  • Zhiwei Zhu (2015). "Logistic Regression for Life Insurance Industry Experience Studies." North American Actuarial Journal vol. Volume 19 (Issue 4),
  • Coauthor (1996). "Skin Cancer Prevention and Detection Practices in a Michigan Farm Population Following an Educational Intervention." The Journal of Rural Health Supplemental. 311-320.
  • Coauthor (1995). "U. S. Farm Women's Participation in Breast Cancer Screening Practices." Cancer vol. Vol. 75 (No. 1), 47-51.
  • Coauthor (1995). "Pneumoconiosis and Associated Medical Conditions." American Journal of Industrial Medicine vol. Vol. 27 (No. 1), 107-113.
  • Coauthor (1995). "Bahadur-Kiefer representations for GM-estimators in autoregression models." Journal of Stochastic Processes and their applications vol. Vol. 57 167-189.
  • Coauthor (1995). "Ocular Effects of Exposure to Triethylamine in a Foundry Sand Core Cold Box Operation." Occupational and Environmental Medicine vol. Vol. 52 (No. 5), 337-343.
  • Coauthor (1995). "Mammography Usage and Knowledge about Breast Cancer in a Michigan Farm Population before and after an Educational Intervention." Journal of Cancer Education vol. Vol. 10 (No. 3), p155-162.
  • Coauthor (1995). "Use of Skin Cancer Preventive Strategies Among Farmers and Their Spouses." American Journal of preventive Medicine vol. Vol. 11 (No. 5), 342-347.
  • Coauthor (1993). "Bahadur type representations for some minimum distance estimators in linear models." Probability and Statistics Wiley Eastern Limited, New Delhi. 349-364.
  • Zhiwei Zhu (1986). "On a 0-1 law of strictly stationary processes." Journal of Math vol. Vol. 6 (No. 4), 375-380.
  • Zhiwei Zhu (1985). "A generalization of Birkhoff ergodic theorem." Journal of Math vol. Vol. 5 (No. 4), 321-328.

Conference Proceedings

  • Committee member (2025). "Business Intelligence and AI." vertical, IEEE Conference on AI (CAI)
  • Seminars (2024). "Data and Analytics in the Era of GAI." 12 business schools across 8 European countries
  • Zhiwei Zhu (2024). "Generative AI’s Enduring Significance in Data and Analytics." INFORMS Analytics Conference
  • Keynote (2024). "Analytics in the Era of GAI." International Symposium on Business Information Science Hungary.
  • Co-chaired (2024). "Corporate Risk and Insurance." Kautz Conference on Business and Economics Hungary.
  • Chair (2023). "Challenges in Data Science." Joint Statistical Meeting
  • Zhiwei Zhu (2019). "What is Data Science, from an academic and an industry perspective." IDSI (Integrative Data Science Initiative) seminar Purdue University.
  • Zhiwei Zhu (2019). "Some Applications and Trends of Predictive Analytics for Life Insurances." Actuarial Science seminar College of Science, Purdue University.
  • Zhiwei Zhu (2017). "Data Science and the 4th Industrial Revolution." Embry Riddle Aeronautic University.
  • Zhiwei Zhu (2017). "The 4th Industrial Revolution, Data Science, and Risk Analytics." The Bowles Risk Analytics Symposium J. Mack Robinson College of business, Georgia State University.
  • Zhiwei Zhu (2016). "Data are not always useful, insights are." Chief Data Officer summit New York City.
  • Panel (2015). "Predictive modeling: where are the values." Society of Actuaries annual meeting
  • Zhiwei Zhu (2014). "Predictive modeling for actuaries." Society of actuaries annual meeting
  • Panel (2014). "Opportunity and Challenge in Life and Annuity by Using Predictive Modeling." Society of Actuaries Annual
  • Zhiwei Zhu (1998). "What affects Michigan's Breast & Cervical Cancel Control Program rescreening rate." Presented in a CDC sponsored national conference

Other Publications

  • Zhiwei Zhu (2014). "Actuarial Data Management." American Academy of Actuarial, Contingency
  • Zhiwei Zhu (2002). "A Survival Model for Estimating Mortality of Advanced Age Population." Society of Actuaries, Living to 100

Fulbright US Scholar

P&Q Best Professor

Senior Industry Executive

Contact

zhu816@purdue.edu
Phone: (765) 496-8271
Office: YONG 1024

Area(s) of Expertise

Artificial Intelligence, Business Analytics, Data Mining, Decision Sciences, Risk Management