Yian Yin is an assistant professor of information science at Cornell University. His research applies and develops novel computational tools to understand how individual, social, and environmental processes independently and jointly promote (or inhibit) scientific progress and innovation achievements. As a computational social scientist, he has also used science and innovation as a powerful lens to examine broader processes and outcomes in a wide range of complex social processes, from artistic and cultural productions to public policy, from media attention to market competition to human conflict. His research has been published in top general audience venues such as ScienceNature, and Nature Human Behaviour and featured in media outlets such as ForbesScientific AmericanThe AtlanticHarvard Business Review, and MIT Technology Review.

Yian received his Ph.D. in Industrial Engineering and Management Science at Northwestern University, with research affiliations at Northwestern Institute on Complex Systems and Kellogg Center for Science of Science and Innovation. He holds bachelor's degrees in Statistics and Economics from Peking University.