Music, home, community, and the things that make a life.
I grew up in Leibo, in China’s Liangshan Yi Autonomous Prefecture. My parents lived and worked there for more than 30 years before recently retiring. The region’s beautiful landscapes sit alongside deep inequities in education, healthcare, and living conditions. Growing up there shaped my interest in delivering services to underserved populations.
The region is predominantly home to the Yi ethnic minority. My first name, Yi (懿), is a coincidence: I am not ethnically Yi (彝).
I play classical clarinet and enjoy band conducting. I currently perform with the ODU Symphony Orchestra and the Chesapeake Bay Wind Ensemble.
I served as student president of the Tsinghua University Symphonic Band in 2013–2014. At Minnesota, I played in the University Band, Campus Orchestra, and Summer Orchestra for many years.
My roommate, Sheng Chen, and I performed Mendelssohn’s Konzertstück No. 2, Op. 114 as a clarinet duet at his doctoral recital. Sheng is now an assistant professor of clarinet performance at Minzu University of China.
In spring 2021, I conducted the UMN University Band.
I am Vice President of ORAI China, a nonprofit community promoting public understanding of operations research and analytics. Our volunteers share academic articles, conference news, videos, meet-ups, and invited talks, primarily in Mandarin.
At the time of an earlier community update, ORAI China had reached more than 100,000 subscribers and brought together more than 100 contributors.
I am happily married to Tianni Guo, the 2023 National Dual Language Teacher of the Year. We share our home with Nova, our lovely, slightly cranky cat. Away from my desk and the music stand, I enjoy table tennis and road cycling.