PeopleofSuperintelligence

Researcher

Zuowei Shen

Also known as 沈佐伟

Zuowei Shen is a mathematician whose work spans wavelet theory, image restoration, low-rank matrix completion, and transformer approximation. After studying at Hohai and Alberta and completing postdoctoral research in Wisconsin, he joined NUS in 1993 and became a professor in 2002. With collaborators, he developed an iterative method for matrix completion, studied wavelet-frame methods for restoring images, and coauthored theory on transformer architectures. He was elected a TWAS Fellow in 2020 and received Singapore’s Public Administration Medal (Silver) in 2021 while serving in senior NUS roles. As of October 2026, he is a Distinguished Professor of Mathematics at NUS and Director of its Institute for Mathematical Sciences.

Works
213
Citations
18,351
h-index
58
Badges

Publication numbers from OpenAlex, as of 18 October 2026.

Timeline

  1. 1982–1991

    Mathematics at Hohai and Alberta

    He earns a bachelor’s degree at Hohai University in 1982, then completes an M.Sc. in 1987 and a Ph.D. in 1991 at the University of Alberta.

  2. 1993–2002

    From Wisconsin to NUS

    After postdoctoral research at the University of Wisconsin–Madison, he joins NUS in 1993 and becomes a professor in 2002.

  3. 2008

    Thresholding for matrix completion

    In a 2008 preprint with Jian-Feng Cai and Emmanuel Candès, he presents a singular-value-thresholding algorithm for low-rank matrix completion.

  4. 2012

    Wavelets for image restoration

    With Jian-Feng Cai, Bin Dong, and Stanley Osher, he connects total-variation methods with wavelet-frame approaches to image restoration in a 2012 paper.

  5. 2020

    Elected to TWAS

    He becomes a TWAS Fellow in the Mathematical Sciences section in 2020.

  6. 2021

    A medal for public service

    He receives Singapore’s Public Administration Medal (Silver) in 2021 while serving as NUS Vice Provost (Graduate Education) and Dean of NUS Graduate School.

  7. 2025

    Transformer approximation theory

    With Jingpu Cheng, Ting Lin, and Qianxiao Li, he presents a theoretical framework for proving universal approximation in transformer-type architectures with attention mechanisms in 2025.

  8. As of October 2026

    NUS professor and IMS director

    He is a Distinguished Professor of Mathematics at NUS and Director of its Institute for Mathematical Sciences.

A language model matched the links in this timeline to people, organizations and papers (provisional, model-judged).

Career

  1. Since 1993National University of SingaporeProfessor
  2. 2006–2011University of California, Davis
  3. 1994–1996University of Wisconsin–MadisonPostdoctoral researcher

Education

  1. 1991University of AlbertaPhD
  2. 1987University of AlbertaM.Sc.
  3. 1982Hohai UniversityBachelor's degree

From the biography and OpenAlex affiliations (the years of papers that list the organization), so some years are approximate.

Most-cited works

  1. A Singular Value Thresholding Algorithm for Matrix Completion2010 · SIAM Journal on Optimization · 5,815 citations
  2. Framelets: MRA-based constructions of wavelet frames2003 · Applied and Computational Harmonic Analysis · 753 citations
  3. Affine Systems inL2(Rd): The Analysis of the Analysis Operator1997 · Journal of Functional Analysis · 694 citations
  4. Split Bregman Methods and Frame Based Image Restoration2009 · Multiscale Modeling and Simulation · 671 citationsWith Stanley Osher
  5. Robust video denoising using low rank matrix completion2010 · IEEE Computer Society Conference on Computer Vision and Pattern Recognition · 495 citations

From OpenAlex, as of 18 October 2026.

  1. More people shaping AI studied at Massachusetts Institute of Technology than at any other institutionIncludes National University of Singapore. Our estimates of where the people shaping AI studied and where their careers led, from education records in cited biographies.
  2. The company share of AI researchers’ top papers rose from 2% to 33%Includes National University of Singapore. We estimate where leading AI researchers worked when their most-cited papers appeared. The company share rose from 2% in 1975–1979 to 33% in 2020–2024.
  3. Google has the highest combined h-index among AI organizationsIncludes National University of Singapore. Our estimates of combined and median h-index at AI organizations, using current affiliations and OpenAlex records.
  4. Stanford University trained or employed 27 of the 113 AI major-prize winners, more than any other universityIncludes National University of Singapore. Stanford University trained or employed 27 of the 113 AI major-prize winners, more than any other university. We compare doctorate and employment links for major-prize and best-paper winners.

Colleagues

People named in this biography, and people with dated positions at the same organization in the same years.

Sources and credits

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  1. Zuowei Shen blog.nus.edu.sg. Checked 18 October 2026.
  2. A Singular Value Thresholding Algorithm for Matrix Completion arxiv.org. Checked 18 October 2026.
  3. Image restoration: Total variation, wavelet frames, and beyond geodesic.mathdoc.fr. Checked 18 October 2026.
  4. Shen, Zuowei | TWAS twas.org. Checked 18 October 2026.
  5. Recognised for service to the nation news.nus.edu.sg. Checked 18 October 2026.
  6. A unified framework for establishing the universal approximation of transformer-type architectures proceedings.neurips.cc. Checked 18 October 2026.