Yao Xie, Coca-Cola Foundation Chair and Professor in the H. Milton Stewart School of Industrial and Systems Engineering (ISyE), has been selected to join the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine’s New Voices in Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine program.

New Voices is a highly competitive, merit-based program that expands the expertise engaged in the work of the National Academies while cultivating a national network of emerging STEM leaders.

Xie is one of 20 mid-career scientists, engineers, and medical professionals in the 2026–2028 cohort. Her research develops statistical and computational foundations for sequential inference, high-dimensional change-point detection, robust decision-making under uncertainty, and generative modeling for inference and decision-making, with applications in public safety, power grid resilience, and biomedical and health systems.

During her two-year term, Xie will have the opportunity to contribute to National Academies’ consensus studies and convening activities, collaborate on interdisciplinary projects, and engage with peers to address critical national and global challenges. Cohort members meet monthly in virtual sessions and gather twice annually for in-person meetings.

“I am honored to join the New Voices program and to contribute perspectives from statistics, data science, machine learning, and operations research to the National Academies’ work on AI and public decision-making,” said Xie. 

New Voices members are supported by National Academies staff and guided by an advisory committee of senior leaders. They include elected members of the National Academy of Sciences, National Academy of Engineering, and National Academy of Medicine, as well as program alumni.

With the addition of the 2026 cohort, the New Voices network now includes 80 members across four cohorts. Alumni of the program have gone on to serve on dozens of National Academies committees and to represent U.S. mid-career STEM perspectives at major national and international events.

Xie will be the third Georgia Tech faculty member to participate in New Voices. Lauren Stewart (School of Civil and Environmental Engineering) and Omar Asensio (School of Public Policy) served in previous cohorts.

“Now more than ever, we need to nurture the next generation of talented American researchers, who are the future leaders of the U.S. science and innovation enterprise,” said Marcia McNutt, president of the National Academy of Sciences.