Triangle’s Asian American community gathers to remember professor killed in UNC shooting

Zijie Yan was a brilliant scientist and a kind and caring mentor, friends, family and colleagues recalled during a vigil in honor of the UNC-Chapel Hill physics professor who was shot and killed on campus last week.

More than a hundred people, including many members of the Triangle’s Asian-American communities, came together Tuesday night outside the Cary Arts Center to mourn and remember the professor, who joined the faculty at UNC in 2019. Yan, who lived in Apex, had two young daughters.

State Rep. Ya Liu, a Democrat from western Wake County and one of the organizers of Tuesday’s vigil, said Yan was a committed member of his community who “always worked hard to make the world a better place.”

“His tragic loss leaves so many, across the state, nation, and the world, hurting so deeply, but his positive legacy will be cherished,” Liu said.

Chavi Khanna Koneru, the executive director of N.C. Asian Americans Together, another organizer of the vigil, said it was encouraging to see people of many different backgrounds come out to honor Yan.

“In times of tragedy, we are reminded that our community is our greatest strength,” Koneru said. “Seeing the Asian American community unite to support each other through this loss has been truly inspiring, and a testament to the close bonds we all share.”

Vigils remembering Yan took place at UNC last week as well, including a university-wide gathering at the Dean E. Smith Center where thousands of students and faculty came together to honor the slain professor.

Colleagues at UNC and Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute in upstate New York, where Yan obtained his PhD, remembered Yan for his contributions as a nanoscientist.

At UNC, Yan ran his own research group in the Department of Applied Physical Sciences, along with two undergraduate students, a research assistant, and three PhD students, one of whom, Tailei Qi, was arrested and charged by authorities with Yan’s death.

Online fundraisers to support Yan’s children and his parents, organized by Doug Chrisey, Yan’s doctoral adviser at RPI, had raised more than $32,000 as of Wednesday.

As people at Tuesday’s vigil lit candles and laid flowers on the steps of the arts center, messages and stories submitted by Yan’s friends from RPI were read aloud and shared with the community in Chinese.

Several local and state elected officials also attended the vigil, including Attorney General Josh Stein, U.S. Rep. Wiley Nickel, N.C. House Minority Leader Robert Reives and N.C. Secretary of State Elaine Marshall.