A Loss Within our Student Body

The following message was sent Jan. 10 to members of the Booth community from Dean Madhav Rajan.

To the Chicago Booth community:

It is with a very heavy heart that I write to inform you that Yiran Fan, a fourth-year PhD student in the Joint Program in Financial Economics, passed away unexpectedly on Saturday, January 9, 2021. As you may have read in the message from the university, Yiran was tragically shot and killed, and police report the suspected gunman has been killed. 

A longtime member of the Booth and Economics communities, Yiran is remembered as a smart and incredibly talented student, highly respected by his peers and beloved by all who knew him. He worked closely with Professor Zhiguo He and was hoping to propose his dissertation later this year. Projects that Yiran was working on include research on the interaction of bankers’ assets and liability management, and studying screening competition under flexible information acquisition.

Yiran also served as a Teaching Assistant during the Autumn Quarter, and he served as the Fama-Miller Professional Development Fellow for the 2020-21 academic year, working with current research professionals on their professional development. Before becoming a PhD student at Booth, Yiran was on staff as a research professional at the Fama-Miller Center for Research in Finance.

The entire Booth community mourns with Yiran’s family and friends. Counseling services will be provided to students, and we will follow up with details.

We also will follow up with plans to honor Yiran’s life on a future date.

Madhav

Editor's Note: A candlelight vigil will be held in remembrance of Fan on Jan. 14 at 4 p.m., with a live broadcast available on the UChicago News site.