Three MS&E PhD Students Named 2019 VPGE Fellows

PhD students Parisa Assar, Jiang Bian, and W. Alton Russell have been named 2019 VPGE Fellows. Fellows are recognized for outstanding achievements, leadership and innovative research. Read more about Parisa, Jiang, and Alton below.

The Offices of the Vice Provost for Graduate Education (VPGE) provides competitive funding opportunities that promote innovation, diversity, and excellence in graduate education.

Parisa Assar

The Stanford Graduate Fellowship in Science and Engineering (SGF) supports exceptional incoming and continuing doctoral students in the natural and social sciences, education, engineering, and the basic sciences in the School of Medicine.

Parisa Assar is a PhD student at the Stanford Technology Ventures Program (STVP) in the Department of Management Science & Engineering at Stanford University. Parisa’s research interest revolves around the role of ethical principles and moral values in the realm of responsible innovation and entrepreneurship in order to help tech firms have fair and ethical outcomes given their power and influence on the wellbeing of the user and society. Prior to her PhD studies, she worked at Google in various mission-driven teams (Google’s Advertising Grants for Nonprofits, Customer Diversity, Google for Education and Digital Wellbeing) and before that she was a consultant. Parisa earned a master’s degree in Management Science and Engineering from Stanford University. She holds a BSc in Electrical Engineering and a master’s degree in IT Management. 

Source: STVP.STANFORD.EDU

Jiang Bian

The Gerald J. Lieberman Fellowship supports doctoral students who have demonstrated outstanding accomplishments, as well as the potential for leadership roles within the academic community and promising careers in university teaching and research.

Jiang Bian is a PhD student at the Stanford Technology Ventures Program (STVP) in the Department of Management Science & Engineering at Stanford University. Jiang’s research interests lie at the intersection of organizations, innovation and corporate strategy. Particularly, she’s interested in how inter-organizational relationships affect firm competence and performance. Jiang holds a BS in Management and a BA in English from Tianjin University, China, as well as an MS in Civil and Environmental Engineering from Stanford University. Before joining STVP, Jiang worked in a variety of roles including risk analyst, regional risk manager and strategic consultant, providing management consulting services to public agencies, corporations and financial institutions in infrastructure project development, procurement, financing and investment.

Source: STVP.STANFORD.EDU

W. Alton Russell

The Stanford Interdisciplinary Graduate Fellowship (SIGF) Program is a competitive, university-wide program that awards outstanding doctoral students engaged in innovative, interdisciplinary research and the pursuit of questions that cross traditional disciplinary boundaries.

Alton Russell is a PhD candidate in Management Science & Engineering at Stanford University. Alton applies methods from operations research, epidemiology, machine learning and economics to model healthcare decisions. His work aims to inform clinical practice and health policy. He has evaluated interventions in gastroenterology and developed tools to detect and manage kidney disease in children. His dissertation focuses on the safe collection and transfusion of donated blood. Alton holds a BS in Industrial and Systems Engineering and Interdisciplinary Studies from North Carolina State University, as well as an MS in Management Science and Engineering from Stanford University. Prior to his PhD studies, he worked at Premier, Inc., a leading healthcare improvement company, in roles as a cost management analyst and consultant.

Source: ALTONRUSSELL.COM