Who is Zijie Yan? Staffer killed in UNC-Chapel Hill shooting identified

Professor Zijie Yan was identified as the faculty victim in a deadly shooting that sent the UNC-Chapel Hill campus into lockdown on Monday. He was the academic adviser of suspect Tailei Qi, according to a university web page.

Yan was an associate professor in the department of applied physical sciences, where he focused on nanoscience technology.

Qi, a second-year doctoral student who was taken into custody after Monday’s shooting, worked closely with Yan’s research group at UNC since early 2022. Police said the incident happened in a lab on campus.

Yan and Qi co-authored research papers in recent years on the effect of light on nanoparticles. Yan’s recent work focused on something called “optical tweezers,” a process using light aimed at developing advanced nanorobots within cells.

Who is Zijie Yan?

Professor Zijie Yan has been confirmed as the faculty casualty in the deadly shooting that shut down the UNC-Chapel Hill campus on Monday. According to a university website, he was the academic adviser of suspect Tailei Qi.

Yan worked as an assistant professor at the Department of applied physical sciences, specializing in nanoscience technology.

Staffer killed in UNC-Chapel Hill shooting identified

A graduate student at the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill was charged with first-degree murder after the fatal shooting of a professor in his research department.

Tailei Qi, an applied physical sciences major, was apprehended Monday afternoon following the shooting at Caudill Labs, a science building on the UNC campus, which prompted an hourslong lockdown that forced students and faculty to barricade themselves in classrooms and dorms as authorities searched for a suspect.