Zz Zhu

Clinical Associate Professor
Quantitative Methods

Education

Ph.D. in Statistics
MS in Mathematics

Zhiwei Zhu, Ph.D., is a scholar, educator, and former senior executive whose work sits at the intersection of artificial intelligence, data science, and decision governance. He serves as a Clinical Associate Professor at Purdue University’s Daniels School of Business, where he teaches business analytics and explores how generative AI is transforming both organizational intelligence and the foundations of data science.

Before returning to academia, Zhu held executive leadership roles at Swiss Re, SCOR, and Assurant Health, where he built and led enterprise analytics units responsible for risk modeling, portfolio optimization, and strategic decision support. His industry experience informs his central thesis: the real challenge of AI is not computational capability, but how organizations design decision systems that responsibly integrate machine-generated insights.

His recent scholarship—including contributions to Harvard Data Science Review and INFORMS publications—argues that generative AI represents not merely a technical milestone but a conceptual shift in how data, models, and inference are understood. He writes and speaks widely on the transition from structured analytics to AI-enabled reasoning, and on the need for governance frameworks that align technological power with human judgment.

A Fulbright U.S. Scholar, Zhu has delivered invited seminars at business schools across Europe and regularly addresses academic and executive audiences on the future of analytics education. His work advances a decision-oriented approach to forecasting and data science, emphasizing that precision alone does not create value—designing intelligent, accountable decision systems does.

Journal Articles

Zhiwei Zhu (2024). "Rethinking Data Science Singularity." Harvard Data Science Review vol. 6.1
Zhiwei Zhu (2024). "Data Science: Connecting the Past and Pioneering the Future of Analytics." INFORMS Analytics Magazine
Zhiwei Zhu (2015). "Logistic Regression for Life Insurance Industry Experience Studies." North American Actuarial Journal vol. Volume 19 (Issue 4),
Coauthor (1996). "Skin Cancer Prevention and Detection Practices in a Michigan Farm Population Following an Educational Intervention." The Journal of Rural Health Supplemental. 311-320.
Coauthor (1995). "U. S. Farm Women's Participation in Breast Cancer Screening Practices." Cancer vol. Vol. 75 (No. 1), 47-51.
Coauthor (1995). "Pneumoconiosis and Associated Medical Conditions." American Journal of Industrial Medicine vol. Vol. 27 (No. 1), 107-113.
Coauthor (1995). "Bahadur-Kiefer representations for GM-estimators in autoregression models." Journal of Stochastic Processes and their applications vol. Vol. 57 167-189.
Coauthor (1995). "Ocular Effects of Exposure to Triethylamine in a Foundry Sand Core Cold Box Operation." Occupational and Environmental Medicine vol. Vol. 52 (No. 5), 337-343.
Coauthor (1995). "Mammography Usage and Knowledge about Breast Cancer in a Michigan Farm Population before and after an Educational Intervention." Journal of Cancer Education vol. Vol. 10 (No. 3), p155-162.
Coauthor (1995). "Use of Skin Cancer Preventive Strategies Among Farmers and Their Spouses." American Journal of preventive Medicine vol. Vol. 11 (No. 5), 342-347.
Coauthor (1993). "Bahadur type representations for some minimum distance estimators in linear models." Probability and Statistics Wiley Eastern Limited, New Delhi. 349-364.
Zhiwei Zhu (1986). "On a 0-1 law of strictly stationary processes." Journal of Math vol. Vol. 6 (No. 4), 375-380.
Zhiwei Zhu (1985). "A generalization of Birkhoff ergodic theorem." Journal of Math vol. Vol. 5 (No. 4), 321-328.

Conference Proceedings

Committee member (2025). "Business Intelligence and AI." vertical, IEEE Conference on AI (CAI)
Seminars (2024). "Data and Analytics in the Era of GAI." 12 business schools across 8 European countries
Zhiwei Zhu (2024). "Generative AI’s Enduring Significance in Data and Analytics." INFORMS Analytics Conference
Keynote (2024). "Analytics in the Era of GAI." International Symposium on Business Information Science Hungary.
Co-chaired (2024). "Corporate Risk and Insurance." Kautz Conference on Business and Economics Hungary.
Chair (2023). "Challenges in Data Science." Joint Statistical Meeting
Zhiwei Zhu (2019). "What is Data Science, from an academic and an industry perspective." IDSI (Integrative Data Science Initiative) seminar Purdue University.
Zhiwei Zhu (2019). "Some Applications and Trends of Predictive Analytics for Life Insurances." Actuarial Science seminar College of Science, Purdue University.
Zhiwei Zhu (2017). "Data Science and the 4th Industrial Revolution." Embry Riddle Aeronautic University.
Zhiwei Zhu (2017). "The 4th Industrial Revolution, Data Science, and Risk Analytics." The Bowles Risk Analytics Symposium J. Mack Robinson College of business, Georgia State University.
Zhiwei Zhu (2016). "Data are not always useful, insights are." Chief Data Officer summit New York City.
Panel (2015). "Predictive modeling: where are the values." Society of Actuaries annual meeting
Zhiwei Zhu (2014). "Predictive modeling for actuaries." Society of actuaries annual meeting
Panel (2014). "Opportunity and Challenge in Life and Annuity by Using Predictive Modeling." Society of Actuaries Annual
Zhiwei Zhu (1998). "What affects Michigan's Breast & Cervical Cancel Control Program rescreening rate." Presented in a CDC sponsored national conference

Other Publications

Zhiwei Zhu (2014). "Actuarial Data Management." American Academy of Actuarial, Contingency
Zhiwei Zhu (2002). "A Survival Model for Estimating Mortality of Advanced Age Population." Society of Actuaries, Living to 100

Fulbright Project Focuses on Business Analytics and Data Science Education
The Daniels School’s Zhiwei Zhu has been awarded a Fulbright to collaborate with Szechenyi Istvan University in Hungary.
Full story: Fulbright Project Focuses on Business Analytics and Data Science Education
Data Science Provides Paths for Businesses
Zhiwei Zhu is rethinking data science singularity and says every organization should have its own unique approach to data science.
What Businesses Can Learn from McKinsey’s 2024 Global Survey on AI Adoption
Survey shows there’s been a significant shift from experimentation to integration of generative Artificial Intelligence, proving gen AI is no longer a novelty.
2023 Best Undergraduate Professors Zhiwei Zhu
https://poetsandquantsforundergrads.com/news/2023-best-undergraduate-professors-zhiwei-zhu-purdue-university-daniels-school-of-business/