Dr. Gaoxiong Gan, retired associate professor of statistics at Missouri S&T, died on Dec. 18, 2009, after a long illness. He left his home to the school to endow a scholarship in his name. Net proceeds of the sale of the home will be invested in the university’s endowment to provide a permanent source of funding for the Gaoxiong Gan Scholarship.

Dr. Gan said he wanted his scholarship to help students focus on academics, so they could “study hard and study for real understanding.”
Dr. Leon Hall, chair of the mathematics and statistics department at S&T, was not surprised that Dr. Gan would leave such a legacy. “He cared deeply about his students and had a strong affection for the campus.”
Dr. Gan came to Missouri S&T in 1990 as a visiting assistant professor. In 1993, he became a tenure-track assistant professor and was awarded tenure and promoted to associate professor in 1999.
He earned his undergraduate degree in fresh water culture from Central China Agricultural University and his master’s degree in statistical genetics from Beijing Agricultural University. He earned his Ph.D. degree in statistics from Kansas State University. Before coming to the U.S., Dr. Gan was a technician at Hubei Shangshe Lake Government Fish Farm and a lecturer at Beijing Agricultural University.
He is survived by one daughter, Lu Gan, currently a doctoral student in statistics at the University of Illinois. She earned a bachelor’s degree in civil engineering and a master’s degree in mathematics, both from Missouri S&T, and a master’s degree in hydraulic engineering from Purdue.