杨亚纪念奖学金捐款倡议

各位朋友，

我们怀着沉痛的心情悼念杨亚辞世。杨亚于1999年9月30日在北卡罗莱纳州（North Carolina）德罕地区（Durham）遭遇一场车祸，大脑严重受伤。经过10天的特护室精心治疗之后，杨亚不幸于1999年10月10日在杜克医院（Duke Hospital）辞世, 留下了她的父母和唯一的姐姐。

杨亚1971年10月23日出生于一个普通的中国家庭。她的母亲是一位小学教师，父亲是一位铁路工程师。杨亚于1989 年至1993 年间就读于中国科学技术大学计算机科学系。在1993年完成学士学位以后，杨亚来到位于美国纽约的哥伦比亚大学（Columbia University）读研究生。她于1995年完成运筹学硕士学位，1998年获得运筹学博士学位。自1998年9月起，杨亚执教于杜克大学法奎商学院（Fuqua School of Business）。

在科大和哥大读书期间，杨亚不仅学习成绩优异，而且待人和蔼友善，把快乐带给每一个她所认识的人。正如法奎商学院分管教工工作的副院长（Senior Associate Dean for Faculty）Paul Zipkin教授所说，“每次跟杨亚聊天的时候，我都感到生活如此的单纯和美好。” 对我们许多人来讲，杨亚是一个可爱的朋友：聪明、美丽、天真、谦虚、待人随和，兴趣广泛，并且为着理想而努力进取。在杜克大学短短一年的时间内，她就赢得法奎商学院各位同事和MBA学生的一致好感。在她住院期间，众同事和学生给了她极大的支持。我们对杨亚的不幸深感痛心，在悲伤之后，我们也感谢杨亚所留下来的宝贵的精神财富：对生活的乐观向上，在学术上的成就，以及她对理想和信念的追求。

在听到杨亚的不幸消息之后，许多朋友都希望能够给她的家人一点帮助，也希望能够继续推进她生前所关心的事业。在同杨亚的家人商议之后，我们觉得，对杨亚最好的纪念方式，就是以她为榜样，鼓励更多普通家庭出身的年轻人自信自励，使他们能够努力向上，积极进取。杨亚对母校科大一直怀有很深的感情，也一直深深的关心着母校，并曾为校友基金会捐款。为此，科大校友基金会决定设立杨亚纪念奖学金，以此鼓励科大学生努力追求优异的学习成绩，发展多方面的社交和专业技能，追求一份快乐积极的生活。在与杨亚的家人商议之后，我们决定奖学金的评选标准定为如下三条：成绩优异的新生；女生；低收入家庭的学生优先考虑。根据所征集的捐款数额，校友基金会每年都会颁发奖学金给二名或多名同学。作为杨亚朋友们的代表，董灵秀教授（科大班级8911，杨亚在科大时的同班同学，现教于圣路易斯华盛顿大学商学院）将会和科大校友基金会理事会共同决定每年奖学金的获得者。

科大校友基金会是注册于美国特拉华州的非营利性组织，由科大校友志愿者无偿运作，目的是进一步促进全球科大人的卓越，并推动科大与世界各地的学术和文化交流。科大校友基金会也是在美国财政部国内税务署注册的享有免税资格的组织（IRS 501(c)(3)条款），因此对校友基金会的所有捐款都可以免税。许多公司会根据其雇员向校友基金会所捐赠的款额，向校友基金会做出等额的捐款。

Call for Donations to the Ya Yang Scholarship Fund

From: Zhong CHEN zc00@gte.com and Lingxiu DONG dong@olin.wustl.edu

Date: October 21, 1999

Dear friends,

We are in deep sorrow and grieve over the tragic death of Ya Yang. Ya was involved in a car accident on September 30, 1999 in Durham, North Carolina. She suffered severe brain damage from the accident. After surgery and 10 days of intensive care, Ya passed away on October 10, 1999 in Duke Hospital. She is survived by her parents and an older sister.

Ya Yang was born on October 23, 1971 to an ordinary Chinese family. Her mother teaches in an elementary school and her father is a railway engineer. Ya went to the University of Science and Technology of China (USTC) from 1989 to 1993, majoring in Computer Science. After receiving a bachelor's degree from USTC, Ya came to the United States in 1993 to continue her graduate studies at Columbia University. She received an MS in 1995 and a Ph.D. in 1998, both in Operations Research. Since September 1998, she was on the faculty of the Fuqua School of Business, Duke University.

Besides her exceptional academic performance at USTC and Columbia, Ya brought happiness and joy to virtually everybody who ever knew her. As Professor Paul Zipkin, Senior Associate Dean for Faculty at the Fuqua School put it, "Every time I talked with Ya, I felt life is so simple and beautiful." To many of us, Ya was this dear friend who was intelligent, beautiful, innocent, observant, humble, well rounded, and goal-driven. In her first year at Duke University, Ya was extremely popular among her colleagues and MBA students at the Fuqua School, who poured in tremendous support during her final hospitalization. We are all deeply saddened by the tragic loss of Ya. However, beyond sadness, we think more about the happy life she had lived, the academic and professional achievement she had made, and the ideal and belief she had pursued.

After hearing the tragic news, many of Ya's friends expressed their wishes to help her family and to promote the undertakings that Ya cared about the most. After consulting with Ya's family, we feel that the best way to remember Ya is to use her example to encourage young Chinese from ordinary families to believe in themselves and acquire the best accomplishments that they can possibly acquire. Ya was always very fond of her alma mater USTC and cared about its well being deeply. A scholarship fund in Ya Yang's name has been established in the USTC Alumni Foundation (USTCAF). We wish to use the Ya Yang Memorial Scholarship to encourage current USTC students to honor academic excellence, to develop multi-dimensional social and professional skills, and to pursue a happy and fruitful life. Through consultation with Ya's family, the criteria of the Scholarship have been determined to be outstanding female entering students, particularly those from low-income families. Depending on the amount of money that is raised, one or more students will be awarded the Ya Yang Memorial Scholarship each year. On behalf of all the friends of Ya's, Lingxiu Dong (a classmate of Ya's at USTC and currently an assistant professor at Washington University in St. Louis) will participate in the recipient selection process together with the USTCAF Governing Board.

USTC Alumni Foundation is a non-profit organization registered in the State of Delaware, served by unpaid volunteers. Its mission is to promote the excellence of all members of USTC including students, teachers, and alumni around the world, and to promote the academic and cultural exchange between USTC and the world. Ya herself had made donations to the foundation. USTCAF is also an IRS 501(c)(3) organization with tax-exemption status, therefore contributions to USTCAF are tax deductible. Most companies match the amount of contributions made by their employees to such organizations.