Seungwon Yang ('04, '13)
Seungwon Yang
Assistant Professor at Louisiana State University
Class of ’04, ’13
I have been working as a tenure-track assistant professor at Louisiana State University (LSU) since fall of 2015. I have a joint position in the School of Library and Information Science and the Center for Computation and Technology. I worked as a co-principal investigator for two National Science Foundation (NSF) projects (#1620451, #1762600) and as a senior investigator for another NSF planning project (#1737557). I am very proud that I received all my degrees—bachelor’s (2004), master’s and doctorate (2013)—from the Department of Computer Science at Virginia Tech. After graduating from Virginia Tech in 2013, I worked as a postdoctoral researcher at George Mason University’s Department of Information Sciences and Technology. Big changes happened to me since I moved to Baton Rouge, Louisiana (aka “deep south). I met my wife, who is a Ph.D. candidate at LSU, and currently have a 3 year-old son. In my free time, I visit beautiful national parks and lakes in Louisiana with my family and continue my martial art training.
How did the department equip you for the ‘real world’...
The most helpful thing was being provided a collaborative environment. I had friends at the human computer interaction center, data mining laboratory, visualization laboratory, and so on. They worked with me on various things from class projects, papers, and other interests. All of these collaborations really helped expand my social network and also gave me more insight by looking at things from different angles. In addition, working as a graduate research assistant at Virginia Tech’s Digital Library Research Laboratory (director and my doctoral advisor, Dr. Edward A. Fox) for several multi-disciplinary NSF projects equipped me with skills and hands-on experiences necessary for real projects in the field.
Being a Virginia Tech alumnus means…
Having special feelings whenever I see maroon and orange colors. Seeing a Hokie bumper sticker brings back all my memories of Blacksburg, Hokie stone, Saturday farmer's market, Bollo’s Café, lots of snow, and the tragic event in 2007.
My fondest memory from my time in the department is...
Working with faculty members from different departments and my lab colleagues on projects in a very friendly and collaborative atmosphere. Also, I loved playing table tennis with my lab colleagues at the student center.
I’m a three-time Hokie because…
I love Virginia Tech.
My favorite memory of doing crisis research as a student is...
Attending various crisis-related conferences and workshops and feeling that my research is contributing to the safety and resilience of the people and communities affected by disaster events.