REMEMBERING YIRAN FAN (2021)
PUBLISHED ON JAN 14, 2021
The Kenneth C. Griffin Department of Economics and our campus community is deeply mourning the loss of Yiran Fan, who was an alumnus of the University’s Financial Math program and was enrolled in a joint program of the Booth School of Business and the Kenneth C. Griffin Department of Economics. He will be remembered as a generous classmate, a superb research and teaching assistant, a promising scholar, and a kind friend.
Many far-and-wide have expressed wishes and shared their plans to honor Yiran. Messages have been pouring into the department from Yiran’s friends, both within the University community and outside of it, as well as from faculty, students, and alumni. One such message is Lars Hansen’s testimony from his webpage.
CANDLELIGHT VIGIL
On Thursday, January 14, The University will hold a candlelight vigil for Yiran. The vigil will begin promptly at 4:00 p.m. in the center circle of the Main Quadrangle, and may be attended in person or remotely through a live broadcast. Those attending the vigil are expected to maintain COVID-19 safety requirements, including social distancing and masks. For additional details, including live-streaming information, please visit news.uchicago.edu.
SEND A NOTE OF CONDOLENCE
Those who wish to may also offer a note of condolence for Yiran's family here. Notes will be translated, printed, and given to Yiran’s family.
MEMORIAL FUND
In partnership with the Fan family, The University of Chicago is establishing a fund in memory of Yiran Fan to support students in the joint program of The Kenneth C. Griffin Department of Economics and Chicago Booth. To contribute, please visit give.uchicago.edu/ssdmemorial. The University will send a letter to the family to acknowledge your gift.
MAKE A MONETARY GIFT
While the University is committed to assisting the family of Yiran Fan at this difficult time, we understand the desire of the community to support the bereaved family directly by gifts. Here are the community giving links:
China residents (RMB donation)
POSTHUMOUS PROPOSAL/DEFENSE
A posthumous proposal/defense will be held on March 2, 2021 in support of a PhD degree for Yiran Fan. Yiran's committee includes Lars Peter Hansen and Zhiguo He as co-chairs, along with professors Veronica Guerrieri at the University of Chicago Booth School of Business and Doron Ravid from The Kenneth C. Griffin Department of Economics.
Yiran's dissertation will consist of two essays, "Screening Competition under Flexible Information Acquisition" and "The Interaction of Bankers' Asset and Liability Management with Liquidity Concerns." Co-chairs will speak for approximately 25 minutes on each.
More details and plans to honor Yiran's memory will be shared as they are made available.
