Professor Yan Honored as Kind, Brilliant Scientist

Posted on Sept. 5, 2023

They came in the thousands to honor the memory of Zijie Yan, a brilliant, soft-spoken faculty member and nanoscience researcher killed in a campus shooting on Aug. 28.

At a vigil held Aug. 30 at the Smith Center, the Carolina community came together to process the fear and uncertainty caused by the shooting and to resolve to be “Carolina Strong” in the wake of the tragedy.

“His loss will be deeply felt by all those who knew him and loved him,” Chancellor Kevin Guskiewicz said to the mourners, who included Yan’s mother and two young children. “Dr. Yan left this world a better place for his brilliance, his commitment and the lives that he affected. That’s a life well lived and a life ended far, far too soon.”

An estimated 5,000 faculty, staff, students and community members attended the vigil, and another 10,000 watched the livestream from the Smith Center. Many wore blue ribbons and held candles that were handed out as they entered. Music professor Brent Wissick and associate professor Nicholas DiEugenio in the College of Arts and Sciences played somber selections on cello and violin as mourners filled the seats. They also played a piece by Johann Sebastian Bach for a moment of reflection during the vigil.

At midday Aug. 30, hundreds gathered on the grassy area surrounding the Bell Tower, many bringing flowers to add to a makeshift memorial that included dozens of bouquets, a toy ram, a heart-shaped card and models of molecules. Under overcast skies, they cried and held each other as the bell tolled three times at 1:02 p.m., the time the 911 call alerted UNC Police of shots fired at Caudill Labs two days earlier. Then the mourners bent their heads and closed their eyes to observe a moment of silence in Yan’s memory.

“Universities are supposed to be places of teaching and learning, of research and discovery, of sharing, collaborating and connecting. This was the life that Professor Yan lived,” James White, dean of the College of Arts and Sciences, said at the evening vigil. While “Monday’s violent act has violated our sense of the University as a safe haven,” White said he had also heard many stories of “brave and selfless actions” by faculty members and students during the crisis.

Theo Dingemans, chair of the College of Arts and Sciences’ applied physical sciences department where Yan worked, recalled his colleague as “one of the kindest persons that I’ve ever met” as well as a brilliant scientist. “He was pushing the boundaries of nanoscience with his research program,” Dingemans said, adding he was “100 percent sure” Yan would have “wanted us to keep doing research here at Carolina that will change the world.”

Student Body President Chris Everett recalled his own anxiety during the three-hour lockdown yet expressed confidence in how his fellow Tar Heels responded to the crisis. “Even in the face of danger, I’ve never seen a community bond together in the way that we did,” he said, urging those in the audience to look at those seated next to them to “see the impact of the love and loss that we all are experiencing right now. When one person suffers, we all feel that pain.”

Leah Cox, vice provost of equity and inclusion and chief diversity officer, reminded audience members of the mental health resources available for faculty, staff and students. “Let us never forget that we are truly one Carolina where hope always triumphs over fear, where inclusivity arises above difference,” she said.

The arena’s overhead lights were lowered and people began to pass a flame from one candle to the next. Some turned on the lights on their smartphones. In the soft, flickering glow, the Clef Hangers and Loreleis a cappella singing groups led the crowd in a somber rendition of “Hark the Sound” to close the vigil.

— Susan Hudson ’84, UNC’s The Well newsletter