Fu Liu

Fu Liu (刘拂) is a professor of mathematics at the University of California, Davis, specializing in enumerative and algebraic combinatorics. Much of her work concerns Ehrhart polynomials, lattice-point enumeration, and the volumes and deformation cones of polytopes, with connections to representation theory, algebraic geometry and statistics. She earned her PhD at MIT in 2006 under Richard Stanley, after B.S. degrees in mathematics and in engineering/applied science (computer science) from Caltech in 2002. Born and educated in Shanghai, she won a bronze medal for China at the 1996 International Mathematical Olympiad while a student at Fudan University High School, and began university at Peking University before transferring to Caltech.

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• CV states '1996 Bronze medal in the 37th International Mathematical Olympiad', and IMO official records list Fu Liu (CHN, contestant 4303) with 18 pts, bronze — confirming the Olympiad contestant and the UC Davis professor are the same person.1996
• CV states '1996 Bronze medal in the 37th International Mathematical Olympiad'; IMO official records list Fu Liu (CHN, contestant 4303) with 18 pts and a bronze — the Olympiad contestant and the UC Davis professor are the same person.1996
• Chinese olympiad trackers identify the 1996 bronze medalist 刘拂 as female, from Shanghai Fudan University High School (复旦大学附中), who went to Peking University before transferring to Caltech.1996
• Chinese olympiad trackers name the 1996 bronze medalist 刘拂 as female, from Shanghai Fudan University High School, who entered Peking University in 1997 then transferred to Caltech in 1999 — a rarer two-step path than the usual straight-to-US route, and she kept a China-to-Caltech-to-MIT academic line through to a professorship.1996
• She is now a full professor at UC Davis (promoted 2019), teaching large lower-division courses (152 sections logged in MAT017A) alongside a research program in Ehrhart positivity and polytope combinatorics — the profile of a settled senior academic rather than an early-career researcher.2026
• Her most recent active grant is NSF #2153897-0 (2022-2026), on top of Simons Collaboration Grants, so her research is externally funded through at least 2026.2022
• ORCID 0000-0003-0497-4083 is her registered researcher identity, useful for linking publications and citation records.2026