Remembrances or condolences for Dr Wenbo V. Li

Jin Feng

My heartfelt condolences to Wenbo's family.

This is a hard to believe news for an energetic person like Wenbo. I am deeply saddened to hear it. I will forever remember Wenbo as a colleague and friend with warm personality and great hospitality. Wenbo, you will be in our fond memory.

Sincerely,

Jin Feng and Jie Jia

Sergey Bobkov

Just learned about this very sad news.
Difficult to believe. Wenbo was so active, perhaps intuitively being afraid not to finish some things he considered important. I know him since
1996, and each time later I was always very glad to any opportunity to meet him.
He inspired one of my works about shifts
of product measures. He expressed rather
interesting ideas about the Gaussian correlation conjecture. Last time we discussed it in March 2012 when he was staying in Minneapolis under an IMA program. I will remember Wenbo as
an open, friendly and non-ordinary person and mathematician, who is not
afraid of tackling any difficult problems.

Yonghua Wang

Deepest sympathy and condolence to Wenbo's family! When I informed Wisconsin friends who knew and close to Wenbo, they were very shocked and saddened by the news. The IMS friends were saddened by the news. My husband Jianqing Fan was particularly sad last week when he met with some friends and had a drink last Tuesday, he called me from the meeting and told me the drink that he promised to Wenbo 5 years ago. It did not happen due to the busy schedules of the professionals. Now it will never happen. Wenbo was a talented researcher and had achieved impressively. He will be deeply missed among friends and in the societies that he involved.

Fei Xing

Several days have passed, I still can not believe the reality. I met Professor Li several times in different conferences and workshops. I remember clearly he had always been very kind and willing to talk to young students & junior researchers and introduce us to each other. Just two weeks ago in the IMA workshop, I asked him for some advice after one day's session. He said: "This is your first visit to the University, right? Let's take a walk while talking. I will show you some places of interests in the campus". During the walk, he gave me many useful advice and tips in research and also showed the university center, the shoe tree, the river and the trail he used to mountain biking last summer... These days, those pictures reappeared many times in my mind like just happened yesterday. I think those pictures are also a wonderful highlight of Professor Li to me: interesting, considerate, enthusiastic, and always with full love and curiosity to life and new challenges. R.I.P. Professor Li. My deepest condolences to his family.

Anja Sturm

Wenbo was not only a brilliant and passionate Mathematician he was also extremely modest, kind and thoughtful, genuine and fun to be with. He was a wonderful colleague and friend. I am so saddened by his untimely passing. He will be greatly missed and always remembered fondly. My heartfelt condolences to Sunny and James.

Sincerely,

Anja Sturm and family

Russell Luke

I am shocked and deeply saddened by Wenbo's early death. I remember Wenbo fondly, his joy for life - eating and soccer come to mind - and his passion for mathematics. His laughter was boyish and infectious. I will allways be grateful to him for the significant role he played in helping me and my wife get our first regular faculty positions at UDel. My heartfelt sympathy goes out to his family.

Xingyuan Zeng

I was totally shocked and extremely sad about Prof. Li's early departure from life. I came from China to visit him last September. He was always full of passion and enthusiasm in his teaching and research. The last five months, I treasured every opportunity to meet him at his office to discuss with him. He was really a sharp, rigorous, precise, selfless and knowledgeable researcher and supervisor. He was also the busiest teacher I've met. Even so, he still spent a lot of time on me to discuss with me, to help me to develop good academic manners and habits. I was full of gratitude to him. Every advice from him will be kept in my mind. Professor Li will be remembered, respected and loved forever. May him rest in peace. My heartfelt condolences to Prof. Li's family.

Xin Liu

I was shocked when I learnt that Prof. Li has passed away. I first met Prof. Li in 2011 when he visited IMA. He is always a good friend and mentor. My deepest condolences to Prof. Li's family.

Chunrong Feng

I can't believe such sad news was true finally. I want to show my deepest thanks for his support. May him rest in peace in the heaven.

Kai Zhang

Hope you rest in peace, dear Prof.Li.

Yu Wang

No words can be said to express how much of a sorrow and shock it is to hear the tragedy, Dr. Li was extremely nice and passioante in his lecture, he was always smiling and dedicated to his research. His departure is a huge loss to the family as well as the academia. May him rest in peace and best wishes to his loved ones, I can't imagine how much you are going through. He will always be remembered.

Yves Le Jan

Wenbo was a nice person, with a warm personality. I met him only a few times, for conferences in various parts of the world. I remember especially we had a nice time in Venezuela. I wish to present my sincere condolences to his dear ones.

Chunwei Song

When I learned of this sad fact from professors Fuzhou Gong and Qing Xiang, almost simultaneously, it was all of a sudden. Just incredible! Somehow, I did not choose to accept the reality. In the past few days, Wenbo was in front of my eyes. He had been such a great friend, warm, genuine and energetic. Of course, he was a terrific mathematician, outstanding in probability and especially strong in Gaussian analysis. May Wenbo rest in peace and comfort after such a wonderful life of achievements! The sorrow of mine cannot be fully expressed. My deepest condolences and best wishes go to Sunny and Jamie.

Xiaohui Ai

I can not believe it is true until now. I just received his email on Jan 23. He is always vigorous. Prof. Wenbo Li is my Ph.D advisor. He always straightforward pointed out the key and helped me improve patiently. He created every chance for me to see the world. He enjoys probability and is truth in math. His passions in math and diligence in work will influence me all the time. He will live in my heart forever. My deepest condolences to his family.

Peter Schwenk

I was shocked to read the news that Wenbo had passed away. I would like to express my condolences to his family.

Wenbo is definitely gone too soon. He was fun to talk to and very easy going even when his computer wasn't working.

Jonathon and Susanna Miller

We are both so shocked and saddened to hear about Dr. Li's unexpected passing. He was a professor who was exceptionally dedicated to his students. We often look back on our memories of his graduate level probability courses with much happiness and appreciation. It is clear that he has touched the lives of so many friends, colleagues, and students and in that way he will never be truly gone or forgotten.

Xin Li

Sigh, cannot believe it. You were in much better shape than I am, cannot believe it, numerous memories and happy moments... it feels like drinking together was just yesterday...
Li Jiao, you were a true good man, mentor, and friend. Rest in peace, hope you can still enjoy the soccer in heaven.

Fadil Santosa

I was sad and shocked by the news of Wenbo's passing. I met Wenbo when he joined the Math Department at Delaware in 1992.

Wenbo was just at the IMA about a week before. As usual, he was the center of activities. I remember seeing him "hold court" in the common area on the 4th floor. There was a group around him, and people were coming in and leaving through out the time, with Wenbo being the only fixed point. How can anyone not be charmed by such a warm and clever person?

Wenbo was a great visitor to the IMA during the 2011 academic year. He talked to a lot of people and made a lot of friends. He already talked to me about visiting again in 2014.

He will be missed.

Fadil Santosa

Hao Feng

R.I.P., Prof. Li. My sincere condolences to his family.

I really like your probability and stochastic process courses.

From one of your students.

Qiang Hu

Li Jiao / Wenbo:

I still cannot believe that you are gone. Although we had only met on the soccer fields, I knew you were kind person full of passion. I have only seen a few people talked openly and boldly like you and I like your style. I am going to miss your voice on the fields. I wish you could still enjoy mathematics and sports in the kingdom you are now as when you were on earth. I also would like to express my deepest condolence to your family.

Hu, Qiang

Peng Nie

I was soooo shocked and saddened by Wenbo's too early passing away. We have lost such a wonderful friend. My deepest condolences to his family. R.I.P, Li Jiao

Yongqiang Wang

Dear professor:
You just taught me statistics last semester and I am planning to take the second half of this course. I enjoyed your passion in class and your comprehending insights into theories and applications of probability. Thank you for your enlightenment.
Hope you rest in peace.

My deepest condolences to your family.

From your students.

Jiamin He

You were a great friend and an inspiration. You set an example for all of us to be true, caring, and loving to everyone around us. You always gave 100% to everything you did. You will be missed. R.I.P my friend.

Hang Yu

I got this sad news 2 days ago and could not believe my ears until I saw the webpage in Memoriam. I will never forget your humorous talk on lectures and passion on probability theory. And I am so sorry that I could not have the chance to listen to you again in the coming semester to enjoy your logical idea.. My deepest condolences to you and your family.

Requiescat in pace.
Hang Yu

Rui Yang

Li Jiao,
You were and will always be an inspiring role model in my life! I remember the first time I played soccer at Delaware, we got to the field the earliest and had a lot of fun. I remember one time I was talking to Dr. Cai in his office, you stopped by, saw me and punched me in my chest shouting "Ni Xiao Zi" to show your love. I remember the time we won the intramural together, you celebrated it like a kid and bought us a lot of beer in the bar afterwards. I remember last year I went back to UD, you talked about marathon training so seriously and I knew you were going to make it someday.
RIP Li Jiao!! I love you and you will be deeply missed!!