(WBBM NEWSRADIO) — Two University of Chicago professors thought so much of a promising young doctoral student, they defended a dissertation on his behalf after he was shot and killed near campus early this year.
Now, he’s being awarded a posthumous PhD, WBBM Newsradio’s Steve Miller reports.
Professor Lars Peter Hansen says it was a crushing blow when 30-year-old Yiran Fan was killed in January, the first victim in a Chicago-to-Evanston shooting spree that left several people dead.
“He was a very talented scholar. We will unfortunately miss what could have been a very promising career going forward. That’s kind of our loss.
“But he was also just a tremendously nice person.”
Hansen and Professor Zhiguo He came up with the idea to honor Fan by taking his work and defending a dissertation on his behalf.
Professor He said they weren’t certain at first the university would allow it.
“This is the very first time University of Chicago did it. So, we didn’t know whether it’s going to work or not.”
But it was approved.
And later this month, Yiran Fan will be awarded a posthumous PhD in Financial Economics. His parents will receive his posthumous PhD diploma.
“Unfortunately he was not there to personally witness it,” Hansen said. “But we felt he deserved it. We just thought it was the right thing to do.”
Related
