Tao Yu

Tao Yu Dr. Tao Yu, 39, an Assistant Professor of Chemistry at the University of North Dakota, left this world unexpectedly in Grand Forks on June 13, 2021. Tao was born on April 18th, 1982 in Taiyuan of Shan Xi province, China. Tao came to the US in 2007 after finishing his undergraduate and graduate studies at Fu Dan University in China. He obtained his PhD from the University of Minnesota in 2012. Before joining UND in Fall 2019, he was a postdoc at Northwestern University and the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, and an Assistant Professor at Tennessee Tech University. Tao loved research and devoted himself to his specialty in theoretical and computational chemistry. Tao had a tremendous passion for life and lived each day to its fullest. He loved hanging out with his friends and enjoyed traveling with them. He was also a big fan of sports; he played badminton with his friends at least twice a week in Grand Forks. Tao had a warm personality. He was a loving and loyal son to his parents. Most people around him remember him as a kind-hearted and generous person who was always willing to help others. He was an inspirational figure and always acted as a big brother to new students and scholars. He will be greatly missed. Tao was the only child of his parents. He is survived by his parents, Kaiming Yu and Youlan Huang. He has additional family in China as well. The funeral service will be held at 1:00 pm to 3:00 pm on Monday, June 28th, 2021, at the Faith Evangelical Free Church in Grand Forks (1400 24th Ave S., Grand Forks, ND), followed by a Graveside Ceremony in the Memorial Park South Cemetery at 3:30 pm (1443-1501 28th Ave S, Grand Forks, ND).