Hi there! I am a third-year Ph.D. student in mathematics at the University of Washington, Seattle. I am jointly advised by Jarod Alper and Sara Billey. I am interested in Schubert calculus, equivariant intersection theory, and moduli theory. I am also passionate about formalization of mathematics and using machine learning to aid mathematical discoveries.

I completed my B.A. studies at the University of Pennsylvania in 2023, double-majoring in mathematics and linguistics, and received an M.A. in Applied Math & Computer Science. Outside of mathematics, you will often find me on the tennis or basketball court, or trying to learn a foreign language.

Email
zengrf at uw dot edu
Office
Padelford C-20, UW Seattle
CV
Download curriculum vitae (not up-to-date!)
Michael at the Yu Gardens 豫园, photo by Alex Waugh
Yu Gardens, Shanghai · photo by Alex Waugh

How to pronounce my name

Mandarin
zēng (high tone) — ruò (falling tone) — fán (rising tone)
Cantonese
zang1 — joek6 — faan4
Japanese On'yomi
sou — jyaku — han
Korean
jeung — yak — beom

You might know me as Michael, マイケル, or Миша.

Recent activity

  • ICERM Workshop: Webs in Algebraic Combinatorics, Providence, RI.
  • Western Algebraic Geometry Symposium (Fall 2025), University of Oregon.
  • Japanese Association for Digital Humanities (JADH), University of Osaka.
  • Summer Research Institute in Algebraic Geometry, Colorado State University.
  • Macaulay2 Workshop, University of Wisconsin - Madison.
  • CMND Thematic Program in Discrete Groups in Topology and Algebraic Geometry, University of Notre Dame.

Last updated 2025‑11‑08.