Chapel Hill, NC – On the afternoon of August 28, a memorial was held in honor of Dr Zijie Yan  outside of his office at the University of North Carolina in the department of Applied Physical Sciences. The event marked the dedication of memorial space including a plaque, a garden and new oak bench. 

Ronit Freeman, along with Richard Superfine, Susan Cohen and others, put together the memorial, including the plaque, which is written in tandem English and Mandarin, Zijie’s native language, which reads:

The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill dedicates this memorial in honor of Dr. Zijie Yan, a brilliant scholar and a loving soul. Zijie, an Associate Professor of Applied Physical Sciences, was shot and killed in Caudill Labs on August 28, 2023. 

Zijie leave behind a wife, parents, two young daughters, and a community of scholars in whose hearts his light will always shine. 

His work at UNC focused on nanoparticles and light. One of his final published findings reported on the development of laser-created bubbles, which produced greater levels of illumination and glow – a very useful discovery for applications in sensing, biochemistry and optomechanics. 

You can find the paper here.