Zijie Yan, the University of North Carolina associate professor who was fatally shot on campus Monday, is being remembered as a creative force who was generous with his time and talents in both his professional and personal life.
Yan, who taught applied physical sciences, was a sweet, \u201cdedicated father,\u201d who was passionate about his work, friends and former colleagues said.
\u201cHe was a quiet person with a constant smile,\u201d Doug Chrisey, Yan\u2019s mentor at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, where he got his Ph.D., told NBC News. \u201cHe was a great cook, great chef. He loved to fish. And I know he loved to be with his daughters.\u201d
Yan was shot on the Chapel Hill campus at Caudill Labs, a chemistry building. UNC’s police chief, Brian James, said at a news conference Tuesday that the armed suspect headed directly to the victim and left immediately after shooting him. The suspect, Tailei Qi, a graduate student at the school, was charged with first-degree murder\u2002and possession of a gun on educational property.
Chrisey, who has known Yan since 2006, said that over the years they had stayed in touch and that he has kept photos of Yan with his family. Their interactions were always sunny, the professor said, which made news of Yan\u2019s death particularly shocking.
\u201cHe was a positive person and he had a great deal to offer,\u201d Chrisey, a physics professor who\u2019s now the chair of materials engineering at Tulane University, said. \u201cThere\u2019s no reason why it makes sense for it to be him. I can\u2019t imagine he ever said a cross word to me, even once.\u201d
Yan excelled in his professional endeavors, Chrisey said, adding that while he was \u201caggressive\u201d about his work, he was never competitive or political.
\u201cHe just felt like he had his own horse to ride and he was going to take the distance and not step in anybody else\u2019s area of research,\u201d Chrisey said. \u201cIn an academic environment, that\u2019s also pretty unique to have someone be just so positive. I was on the phone with a UNC faculty member a little while ago and we were both crying on the phone about him.\u201d
After getting his doctorate at RPI, Yan completed his postdoctoral studies at the University of Chicago in 2015. He went on to become an assistant professor at Clarkson University in upstate New York, before making his way to UNC.
Norbert Scherer, a chemistry professor and Yan\u2019s former postdoctoral adviser at the University of Chicago, echoed many of Chrisey\u2019s thoughts. Scherer said that the pair\u2019s work together helped push toward a \u201cnew science direction,\u201d around \u201coptical matter,\u201d which consists of metallic nanoparticles bound together by light.
Scherer, who published roughly 15 peer-reviewed papers with Yan, said their collaborative yet challenging relationship helped mutually improve their work.
\u201cI always found interacting with him to be both really rewarding, but also the challenging process. And both of those things are what it should be,\u201d Scherer said. \u201cHe was always really well prepared. And his ideas are very clearly thought out. \u2026 We would really bounce around and, in the positive sense, critique ideas. There was a lot of back and forth. It was a wonderful working relationship.\u201d
Though Yan delighted in his own research, both of his former mentors emphasized that he took pride in helping students and budding scientists. Chrisey said he remembers when Yan helped mentor high school students in preparation for a science fair. And Scherer recounted how Yan, whose skills could intimidate students, would practice patience.
\u201cWhat I observed in how Zijie works is that he was very patient and devoted himself to people who were trying, even if they weren\u2019t aspiring to his level of ability and insight, that if they tried, then he would really work diligently with them,\u201d Scherer said.
As friends, family, students and colleagues pay tribute to the late scientist, Chrisey said he hopes that people will see the world with the same attitude that Yan brought with him every day.
\u201cHis smiling goodness diffused into everything he did, including being a very self motivated and very capable scientist,\u201d he said. \u201cIt\u2019s possible in this very imperfect world to have your own little space. You can make your little microcosm of positivity for the world.\u201d
On Wednesday, the first day UNC students returned to classes, the school\u2019s Bell Tower tolled at 1:02 p.m. in Yan\u2019s memory. The university will also be holding a candlelight vigil later in the day to mourn his loss.
\u201cDr. Zijie Yan was a good man and a dedicated scholar, and he was senselessly killed while doing his job,\u201d said Peter Hans, president of the University of North Carolina school system. \u201cI join everyone in the Carolina community in condemning this act of violence and standing shoulder-to-shoulder with Dr. Yan\u2019s family, friends, students, and colleagues.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n