Yesterday afternoon, a shooting at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill took the life of Zijie Yan, an Associate Professor in their Department of Applied Physical Sciences. A native of Jingmen, Hubei Province in Central China, he served as an Assistant Professor of Chemical & Biomolecular Engineering at Clarkson from 2015 to 2019. Our condolences and support go to his family and the colleagues, students and alumni who worked with him during his time with us in the Coulter School of Engineering.
He received a dual bachelor of science degree in materials science & engineering and computer science, and his master of science in physical electronics from Huazhong University of Science and Technology in China. He received his Ph.D. in materials engineering from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute.
Before coming to this post at Clarkson, he was a postdoctoral scholar at the James Franck Institute and Department of Chemistry at the University of Chicago. His studies involved optical trapping and manipulation of plasmonic nanostructures, laser-induced self-assembly (optical matter), laser beam shaping, and electrodynamics simulations.
Staff or faculty who want grief support may contact the Employee Assistance Program through Cigna at 877-622-4327.
Students may request support from the Student Health and Counseling Center Monday through Friday between 8:00am – 4:30pm by calling 315-268-6633 or campus ext. 6633 or from Mantra Health 24 hours a day at mantrahealth.com/clarkson. Any students experiencing a mental health emergency after hours or on weekends may also request support by contacting Campus Safety and Security at 315-268-6666.
