Lawrence Li (Er Lu)

Lawrence (Er Lu) Li is a final-year PhD student in the theory group at the University of Toronto, advised by Sushant Sachdeva, graduating Summer 2026. His research spans spectral graph theory, fast algorithms for optimization, and dynamic graph algorithms, with work published at FOCS, SODA and SPAA. He studied mathematics and computer science at the National University of Singapore, and has interned in quantitative finance at Jane Street Capital (Hong Kong) and Morgan Stanley (Montreal). He represented Singapore at the 2012 International Mathematical Olympiad, winning a bronze medal.

Notes1

• IMPORTANT IDENTITY DISAMBIGUATION: the IMO record name 'Er Lu Lawrence Li' is the SAME person as the Toronto theoretician Lawrence Li (Er Lu) — the IMO page and his own site/CV both anchor Singapore + math + the exact name.Jul 2012
• Published in top theory venues across the whole PhD: SPAA 2020 (MST/MPC, with Seth Gilbert), SODA 2023 (effective resistances, with Sachdeva), SODA 2024 (separable linear programs), FOCS 2025 (generalized flow on dense graphs, with Jiang/Kapralov/Sidford) — a coherent line on fast graph/optimization algorithms.2025
• Served as a reviewer for STOC, ESA, NeurIPS, ICALP, SODA, ITCS, FOCS — established enough in the theory community to referee its flagship venues while still a student.2025
• Undergraduate at NUS with near-perfect grades (Math 4.55/5.00, CS 4.45/5.00), then a direct move into theoretical CS research — a strong math-competition-to-theory trajectory.Dec 2019
• IMO 2012: bronze medal, 20 points (P1 7, P2 7, P3 1, P4 5), rank 140 overall; Singapore team placed 7th with 154 points, led by Yan Loi Wong.Jul 2012
• Quantitative finance internships at Jane Street Capital (Hong Kong, 2018) and Morgan Stanley (Montreal, 2025) suggest a quant career path may follow the PhD.May 2025
• ArXiv papers give his institutional email [contact omitted] and homepage www.cs.toronto.edu/~lawrenceli/ — the most reliable contact anchor.
• Visited the Simons Institute at UC Berkeley in Fall 2023 for the Data Structures and Optimization for Fast Algorithms program.Sep 2023
• Organized the University of Toronto theory student seminar (TSS) in 2022/2023 and hosts its annual TCS trivia quiz, signalling community-building beyond his own research.
• Beyond mathematics, won 1st place in the 2nd Asia Cup Bridge Championships U20 representing Singapore; competitive bridge is a recurring Singapore olympiad-community overlap.