Princeton statistician focuses on solving real problems

Chinese-American statistician and financial econometrician Fan Jianqing has offered China his knowledge over the past two decades to help the country make rapid progress in statistical research and applications.

Fan was just 15 when he was admitted to the Department of Mathematics at Shanghai's Fudan University in 1982.

"Back then, I was too young," he said. "I always felt that mathematics seemed to be abstract, and I didn't understand the relationship between it and society."