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ACDIS Graduate Student Affiliates are current graduate and PhD students at the University of Illinois who are interested in arms control, domestic security, and/or international security.
To learn more about our Graduate Student Affiliate application - please click here to visit the information page on our website.
Current Graduate Affiliates
Myla Burton
PhD Program - Doctor of Philosophy, Political Science
Research Interests: Post-Soviet defense and security. The relationship between religion and state security/nuclear weapons. Applications of time series analysis, permutation tests, and hypothesis testing in Political Science.
Previous Education: B.A. Political Science, Pre-Law; J.D. Health Law & Policy and Litigation & Dispute Resolution; M.A. Political Science from Southern Illinois University Carbondale
Jacob W. Fritchie
PhD Program - Nuclear, Plasma, and Radiological Engineering
Bio: Jacob Fritchie is a fourth year Ph.D. student in Nuclear, Plasma, and Radiological Engineering at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, where he also earned his B.S. in Physics and M.S. in Nuclear, Plasma, and Radiological Engineering. His research focuses on the characterization and modeling of silicon photomultipliers for radiation detection in nuclear safeguards and nonproliferation applications. Jacob is an NNSA Nuclear Nonproliferation and International Safeguards Fellow and an intern with Sandia National Laboratories, working on projects related to international nuclear safeguards and security. He is passionate about the intersection of nuclear technology, policy, and international security. Jacob currently serves as a Graduate Ambassador for the Grainger College of Engineering, mentoring fellow graduate students, and is the founder and president of the UIUC student chapter of the Institute of Nuclear Materials Management. Outside of research, Jacob enjoys hiking, attending concerts, and reading science fiction novels.
Previous Education: B.S. in Physics (University of Illinois), MSc in Nuclear, Plasma, and Radiological Engineering (University of Illinois)
Do Young Gong
PhD Program - Political Science
Dissertation: Bullets to Bargains: The Impact of Wartime Coup Attempts on Civil War Management and Resolution
Previous Education: B.A. in English Language and Literature, Political Science and M.A. in Political Science and International Relations from Ewha W. University - M.S. in Applied Statistics from UIUC (expected 2025)
Seungmi Kim
PhD Program - Political Science
Bio:
Previous Education:
Elisia Meyle
PhD Program - Chemistry
Bio:
Previous Education:
Vesal Razavimaleki
PhD Program - Physics
Bio:
Previous Education:
Emmy Tither
PhD Program - Informatics
Bio: Doctoral student in Informatics specializing in applied information science with a commitment to advancing human rights and international security. I specialize in transforming noisy signals into actionable insights by using mixed methods, revealing underlying human behaviors and emotions. My proficiency in managing both complex and sparce open-source testual, audio, and geospatial datasets ensures useable intelligence for policy-making grounded in the complexity of diverse sociocultural contexts. I plan to pursue a career in public service after my doctoral studies.
Previous Education: B. Sc Social Sciences with Social Anthropology + Cert.HE Social Anthropology; Birkbeck, University of London - MA Documentary Arts; University of Cape Town
ACDIS Graduate Affiliates (prior to 2024)
Igor Dubinsky - Nuclear, Plasma, Radiological Engineering
Non-proliferation Risk Analysis Index for Small & Micro Nuclear Reactors
Lula Chen – Political Science
Chenghao Ding – Nuclear, Plasma, and Radiological Engineering
Bei Yang - Department of Economics
Nico Daiyega – Physics
Emergency phase, mechanically induced, particle resuspension and resuspension stabilization