Jorge Loría

Postdoctoral Researcher
Aalto University
Download Poster

Biography:

Jorge Loría was born and raised in San José, Costa Rica. His journey in mathematics began when a
school teacher encouraged him to participate in the primary school math Olympiads. He performed well in
these competitions and enjoyed solving mathematics problems outside of the curriculum, as well as
making new friends! Jorge kept participating in local competitions all the way through secondary school.
In 2013 he was admitted into the Universidad de Costa Rica, in San José. There Jorge decided to study
actuarial sciences as he wanted to incorporate mathematics into his studies but was not yet interested in
completing a Ph.D. program, an idea he did not care about. Halfway through his baccalaureate career, he
also enrolled in the pure mathematics degree. He finished his actuarial science degree in 2017, and
started working on credit risk analysis in Costa Rica. Simultaneously, he was completing the math
degree, which he completed in 2019.
‍
In 2018, Jorge decided to pursue a Ph.D. degree in Statistics, because of the emphasis on applications
that Statistics brings to the table and to avoid taking the mathematics subject GRE (a barrier he felt like
was unnecessary). The subsequent year, he was admitted to Purdue University's Department of Statistics
and later he began to work with Dr. Anindya Bhadra. Jorge's work focuses on applications of α-stable
random variables to Bayesian models and in April 2024, he successfully defended his Ph.D. dissertation,
titled “On the use of α-stable random variables in Bayesian bridge regression, neural networks and kernel
processes''. In June 2024, he began working as a postdoctoral researcher at Aalto University with Dr.
Samuel Kaski, in Finland.
‍
Outside of his work, his main interests include dancing, baking, and playing D&D.
‍
Jorge’s contributions to teaching concentrate on making a welcoming environment. In this environment,
mistakes are not punished but expected! His philosophy for teaching acknowledges that everyone makes
mistakes, and they help us learn. His efforts on teaching earned him a teaching award in Spring of 2021.
His contribution to service was recently recognized by the Somos Purdue award, which recognizes the
commitment to excellence and for leading with ganas at Purdue University, granted by the Latino Cultural
Center. He has taken several leadership roles in different student organizations at Purdue, including the
Graduate Student Organization of the Department of Statistics (at Purdue), and the Costa Rican Students
Association at Purdue.
‍
Jorge's research concentrates on utilizing random variables where the classic central limit theorem does
not apply, to novel computational statistical methodology. The challenge lies in that the central limit
theorem is usually required to build most statistical approaches. His research has now been published in
Statistics and Computing, a major statistical journal, and has been accepted in the 40th conference in
Uncertainty in Artificial Intelligence (UAI).

‍

“For me, Hispanic Heritage Month is a new celebration, and who doesn't love a party! Back home in
Costa Rica, every month is Hispanic heritage month. We embrace the pura vida and enjoy life.
Living away from my home country means that during this month people are more open to this manner of
thinking.”

‍