Professor Wenbo V. Li, of the Department of Mathematical Sciences, died of a heart attack on Saturday, January 26, near his home in Newark, Delaware. Professor Li joined the University of Delaware directly upon completing his Ph.D. at the University of Wisconsin-Madison in 1992. He was promoted to Associate Professor in 1996 and the rank of Professor in 2002. He held an adjunct position with the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering at UD, an adjunct position with the Department of Applied Mathematics and Theoretical Physics at Delaware State University, and an adjunct position in the Department of Mathematics at the Harbin Institute of Technology in Harbin, China.

During his distinguished career, Professor Li also held visiting positions at the University of Pennsylvania, Peking University, the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology, and was a Distinguished Visiting Professor at the Institute of Applied Mathematics of the Chinese Academy of Sciences. In 2006, his numerous and deep contributions to the fields of probability and statistics were recognized with his election as a fellow of Institute of Mathematical Statistics.

Professor Li advised numerous graduate students during his career and was an active mentor for many undergraduate research students. Since joining the university, Professor Li spearheaded the development of probability as a research focus of the Department of Mathematical Sciences and was a central figure in the growing research prominence of the department. The Proceedings of High Dimensional Probability VI, Banff, 2011, will be dedicated to Professor Li's memory. His passing leaves a huge void in the mathematical community, in the life of the department, and in the lives of his students, friends, and family.

Professor Li is survived by his wife, Sunny Xiang, and his son, James. Any of Professor Li's many international friends and colleagues who wish to share remembrances or condolences can visit this link: http://www.math.udel.edu/php/deptapps/guestbook/index.php or http://wenbo.li.muchloved.com/