Julia Ye Shen
Julia Ye Shen (沈晔) passed away in 2022 at the age of 45 after a valiant struggle with a metastatic appendix cancer. Born in Shanghai, China in 1976, Julia emigrated to Canada in 2002 and settled in Austin, Texas in 2006. After working side by side with her husband to help build his business, Julia sought her own professional path. Her love of fashion led her to work at Nordstrom, where she helped women express themselves and find their personal style. She later embarked on an educational journey that took her to Austin Community College. Paralegal courses sparked an interest that led her to gain admission to several law schools, but she decided against attending to pursue more general education. The modest beginnings of an ACC calculus class reignited a long-forgotten love of math from her childhood school days. Julia went on to complete an Associate of Science degree in math from ACC, the UTeach Natural Sciences curriculum at The University of Texas at Austin, a Bachelor of Science degree in Mathematics with Highest Honors from UT Austin, where she was also admitted to Phi Beta Kappa, and coursework towards a Master of Science in Data Science at UT Austin. Julia was working both as a high school math teacher at KIPP Austin Brave High School and as an adjunct math professor at ACC, and continuing her graduate coursework, when her cancer was diagnosed. She loved her students, teachers and classmates; she loved explaining mathematical concepts to curious minds; and she loved opening her own mind to better understand mathematical and statistical concepts.
Julia put her heart into everything she did, whether it was cooking for family or friends on special occasions such as Chinese New Year; world travel; gardening, painting, music; fashion; swimming; or pursuing any of her many other interests. Julia said that life is a concert, and at the end of a concert we don’t cry – we applaud a beautiful performance. Julia’s concert was far shorter than any of us would have liked, but it was a masterpiece.
In honor and memory of Julia, the Julia Ye Shen Endowed Scholarship was established so others may have the opportunity to turn modest beginnings into greatness.