About Me
Professional Profile
I am a Full Professor and AIC Director of the Ph.D. Program in the Department of Mathematical Sciences at Northern Illinois University (NIU), USA.
My research focuses on Continuous Optimization, Nonsmooth and Convex Optimization, Variational Inequalities, Inclusion Problems, and the design of efficient algorithms with convergence guarantees.
I am currently supported by the National Science Foundation (NSF) (grant DMS-2307328) and by NIU.
Research Interests
- Convex and non-convex optimization
- Proximal point and gradient methods
- Projections and circumcentered methods
- Variational analysis and monotone operator theory
- Applications in data science and engineering
Inspirational Quote
"What we think, we become" — Buddha
"There is no substitute for hard work" — Thomas Edison
Education and Experience
📘 Academic Background
- Ph.D. in Mathematics – IMPA, Brazil (2009)
- M.Sc. in Mathematics – University of Havana, Cuba
- B.Sc. in Mathematics – University of Havana, Cuba
💼 Key Positions
- Full Professor & AIC Director – Northern Illinois University (current)
- Associate Professor – Northern Illinois University (previous)
- Assistant Professor – Federal University of Goias, Brazil (with tenure)
- Postdoctoral Fellow – University of British Columbia, Canada
🏆 Selected Grants and Awards
- NSF Grant DMS-2307328 (2023-2026)
- NSF Grant DMS-1816449 (2018-2021)
- Productivity Research Grant – CNPq, Brazil
- Research & Artistry Grant – NIU (2022-2023)
Recent Publications (selected)
- Y. Bello Cruz, M.L.N. Gonçalves, C. Mohr. A Relative Inexact Proximal Gradient Method with an Explicit Linesearch. Journal of Optimization Theory and Applications, 206(9):1–32, 2025.
- Y. Bello Cruz, J. Melo, L.F. Prudente, R.V.G. Serra. A Proximal Gradient Method with an Explicit Line Search for Multiobjective Optimization. Computational Optimization and Applications, 92(2):437–469, 2025.
- R. Behling, Y. Bello Cruz, A. Iusem, D. Liu, L.R. Santos. A finitely convergent circumcenter method for the convex feasibility problem. SIAM Journal on Optimization, 34(3):2535–2556, 2024.
- Y. Bello Cruz, O. Hazaimah. On the weak and strong convergence of modified forward-backward-half-forward methods. Optimization Letters, 17:789–810, 2023.
- Y. Bello Cruz, M.L.N. Gonçalves, N. Krislock. On FISTA with a relative error rule. Computational Optimization and Applications, 84:295–318, 2023.
Supervised Doctoral Students
Nicolás F. Armijo
Thesis: "A semi‑smooth Newton method for conic projection equations"
University of São Paulo (2024)
Current position: Postdoctoral Fellow, UNICAMP, Brazil.
Cassandra Mohr
Thesis: "Explicit Proximal Gradient Methods: Bridging Theory and Practice in Optimization"
Northern Illinois University (2024)
Current position: Postdoctoral Fellow, Middle Tennessee State University.
Oday Hazaimah
Thesis: "Projective Splitting Methods for Maximal Monotone Mappings"
Northern Illinois University (2020)
Current position: Adjunct Professor, Saint Louis University.
Contact and Academic Links
📬 Professional Address
Watson Hall 330
Department of Mathematical Sciences
Northern Illinois University
DeKalb, IL 60115, USA
📞 Office: +1 8157536764
📧 Email: yunierbello at niu dot edu
(alternative: yunier.bello at gmail.com)