In early January 2021, a series of shootings occurred in Chicago, killing three people, including Yiran Fan, a Chinese student studying for a PhD at the University of Chicago.
Fan Yiran is studying at Chicago Booth School of Business. He is in the fourth year of his Ph.D. and has begun preparing for his graduation thesis. If not for this accident, he would have successfully graduated and started a new life.
Fan Yiran’s mentor, Nobel Prize winner Peter Hansen
Half a year after Fan Yiran's death, his doctoral supervisor team completed the thesis he left behind and attended the defense for him. then,At the 2021 University of Chicago graduation ceremony, Fan Yiran was awarded a doctorate, completing his unfinished studies.
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Liu Mei was killed, and his doctoral supervisor team completed his thesis for him.
Awarded a doctorate
In April 2021, Fan Yiran's paper was accepted for publication by the top international academic journal "Journal of Political Economy", and he is the only author of the article.
A eulogy was also edited in the introduction of the paper."We commemorate the life and work of this talented scholar with this article."
After Fan Yiran passed away,Booth School of Business Professor Zhiguo He和Fan Yiran’s mentor and Nobel Prize winner in economics Peter Hansen, logged into Fan Yiran’s Dropbox with the help of his classmates, and reviewed his research results.
Fan Yiran during his lifetime
Together with Professor Doron Ravid from the Department of Economics and Statistics and Professor Veronica Guerrieri from the Booth School of Business, they helped Fan Yiran write his graduation thesis and defend it on his behalf through the thesis materials and ideas left by him.
Fan Yiran during his lifetime
The professors believe that with Fan Yiran’s academic level and research progress, there is no problem in completing his PhD. On June 6, at the University of Chicago graduation ceremony, Fan Yiran was awarded a doctorate.
Professor Peter Hansen, Fan Yiran’s former mentor, said:“It’s a very small thing we can do to honor such a special talent.”
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Versatile, he has directed plays,
The dream is to devote myself to education
Fan Yiran studied at Peking University, Cambridge University and University of Chicago. In 2012, he received a bachelor's degree from Peking University Guanghua School of Management and a double major in philosophy.
Fan Yiran is studying the script
While at Peking University, Fan Yiran directed the drama "Nine People" and played the role of an architect in the play. While studying for a Ph.D. at the University of Chicago, he joined a local Chicago drama club and directed the famous play "Confinement" by the existentialist master Sartre. Because of his love for drama, his friends prefer to call him "Director Fan".
After the shooting, Madhava Rajan, dean of the University of Chicago Booth School of Business, said in an obituary that Fan Yiran"A bright and extremely talented student, he was respected not only by his peers but also by all who knew him."
University of Chicago issues memorial to Fan Yiran
"Erudite, humble, diligent, and helpful" is the impression a friend of Fan Yiran had of him. "In order to catch up with the doctoral application season, he completed a year and a half of courses in one year, including self-taught in the summer, thus exempting him from the required C++ course."
University of Chicago and Peking University Alumni Association mourns Fan Yiran
Fan Yiran once told this friend that when he was in junior high school, his dream was to one day help cure cancer. After coming to Peking University, he came up with the idea that one day he could teach and educate people."I realized that education is so important. If you teach and educate people, you can probably influence one in a thousand people in the country. And this one in a thousand people may have more than one thousand impact on society. "Fan Yiran said to his friend.
The man has passed away, but fortunately he has a warm-hearted mentor who has fulfilled his greatest regret in a foreign country.
I hope everyone studying and living overseas is safe and sound!
