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Yue Zhao is an Assistant Professor at the University of Southern California's Thomas Lord Department of Computer Science and a member of the USC Machine Learning Center. He leads the FORTIS Lab, focusing on building reliable, safe, and scalable AI systems. His research centers on understanding and mitigating failure modes of modern AI, particularly large language models and agentic systems. Zhao's work is grounded in the foundations of anomaly detection and out-of-distribution detection, extending evaluation frameworks to high-impact applications across science and society. He has authored 60 papers in top-tier venues and is known for significant contributions to open-source projects such as PyOD and PyGOD, which have collectively amassed over 35 million downloads and 22,000 GitHub stars. His tools are widely utilized in academia, industry, and governmental agencies, including NASA and the U.S. Senate. Zhao has received several honors, including the Capital Research Award and the AAAI New Faculty Highlights. Additionally, he serves as an Associate Action Editor for notable journals and is an Area Chair for major conferences.
GRE is NOT required for Master's applicants for 2025-2026.