Meet our Board

Dr. Y. Joseph Zhao

Honorary Trustee
Vice President of Middletown Campus

Dr. Y. Joseph Zhao received his Ph.D. from Stanford University and worked as a faculty member at the University of Minnesota. In 2012, he resigned from his tenured full professor position at Minnesota to join the team that was developing Fei Tian College NorthernCampus (FTC Northern), in Middletown, New York.

Dr. Zhao’s main technical expertise is on the principles and applications of a wide variety of optimization, AI, and data analysis methods to different fields. At Stanford, he studiedunder the guidance of Arthur E. Bryson, who pioneered an early version of the backpropagation procedure that is now widely used in machine learning and artificial neural network.

Dr. Zhao is passionate about teaching. At Minnesota, he received Outstanding Teaching Award in his first year of teaching career, then the Taylor Career Development Award for outstanding contributions, and was also voted Best Professor by students. Dr. Zhao also supervised numerous graduate students in their research. At FTC Northern, he seeks to develop ways for the clear and effective teaching of advanced technical subjects such as AI and quantum computing.

Program director

Dr. Anh Cao

Ph.D. IN IMMUNOLOGY, HARVARD UNIVERSITY
M.S. IN IMMUNOLOGY, UNIVERSITY OF TORONTO

Dr. Cao holds a Ph.D. in Immunology from Harvard University and an M.S. in Immunology from the University of Toronto. He has extensive research experience in the field, with publications in Cell, Nature Communications, and Science Advances. During his time at Harvard, Dr. Cao organized multiple international symposia, workshops, and events addressing the issue of forced organ harvesting. As the director of the Northern Lights Summer Camp, he is committed to providing a well-rounded experience by combining the expertise of distinguished lecturers with a wide range of extracurricular activities available both on campus and across New York.

INSTRUCTOR

Jiashu Zhao

B.S. in Pure Mathematics, University of California
M.S. in Statistics, Illinois State University

Jiashu Zhao (Michael) holds a Bachelor’s degree in Pure Mathematics from the University of California, Irvine, and a Master’s degree in Statistics from Illinois State University. He has two years of experience in digital marketing and is eager to expand his expertise in data-related fields. Jiashu is dedicated, patient, and resourceful, always striving to provide thoughtful solutions to challenges while continuously learning and growing in his field.
INSTRUCTOR

Michael Chen

B.S. IN DATA SCIENCE, FEI TIAN COLLEGE AT MIDDLETOWN

Michael Chen is a graduate from Fei Tian College at Middletown with a Bachelors in Data Science. He has been working as an IT specialist for 2 years. Michael is passionate about teaching others and challenges them to go even further beyond.