Her lecture, The Beauty of Uncertainty, explored how embracing the unknown shaped both her personal journey and her career as a statistician.
For Professor Liu, uncertainty began early. In Taiwan, university subjects were assigned not by personal choice but through an unpredictable placement system.
“I was allocated to study statistics,” she recalls. “I’ve always been good at maths since I was a kid, so studying it wasn’t too difficult. But it wasn’t something I chose; I was just lucky to end up really enjoying it!”
That chance beginning led her to a Master’s degree and PhD in the United States before moving to New Zealand, where she’s spent the past 25 years at Te Herenga Waka. Now, her contributions have been recognised with her promotion to Professor of Statistics.
“I’m so grateful for this opportunity. I think every academic dreams to be a professor one day.
“When other people become professors it’s easy to reflect on our own progress. But don’t be disappointed, look at me, I spent 25 years as an academic, and now, I have reached my goal.”
Professor Liu’s research sits at the intersection of theory and application. She develops statistical methods for understanding uncertainty in data, especially categorical data, such as survey responses or rating scales. Her work has been applied in clinical trials, education, wellbeing research, and aquaculture.
“My early work focused on medical research. The methods I developed were particularly useful for clinical trials, such as testing whether a new drug was effective. What’s fascinating is that when we develop these methodologies, we don’t know where they’ll end up being used.”
That unpredictability has led to wide-ranging impact. Her research has been used to evaluate fairness in standardised testing, measure wellbeing, and even support mussel and salmon farmers in improving productivity. It has also earned significant recognition through Marsden and Endeavour research funding.
Today, her work extends into data science and AI, fields she describes as deeply rooted in statistical foundations.
“If you talk about AI, everybody now knows what AI is. But fundamentally, the methodology used in AI comes from statistics and probability.
“People use ChatGPT and other things, but if you look deeper, it becomes like a giant monster, and underneath that monster, it’s all methodologies.”
In her inaugural lecture, Professor Liu reflected on how uncertainty has become the unifying theme of her career. She showed how ambiguous or messy data can still reveal meaningful patterns, and how statistics help us make sense of the unknown.
Her lecture was also a chance to reflect and celebrate her career and the many opportunities that uncertainty has revealed along the way.