Misti Yang, age 44, passed away on Thursday, March 23, 2023, in the company of her husband of 17 years, Bobby. Misti’s rich, multifaceted life — as a writer, scholar, spouse, and friend to so many — was characterized by her endless curiosity and tireless intellect. She worked variously as a food critic, freelance journalist, independent scholar, and professor for whom language was a source of endless fascination. In her personal life, she is fondly remembered for her charismatic warmth and quick wit; it is no surprise to anyone who knew Misti that she considered good conversation an art form.
Misti was born February 23, 1979 in Atlanta, Georgia. Misti graduated from South Gwinnett High School in 1997 where she was a nationally-ranked debater and a National Mock Trial Champion. She graduated with a B.A. from Wellesley College in 2001, and embarked on a career that would span many industries and disciplines as well as many states. She worked as an investment analyst in New York City; a car salesperson in Atlanta; a social media director in Las Vegas; and, ultimately, a professor of Communication Studies at Vanderbilt University devoted to studying how people think and talk about technology.
In 2003, while working in car sales in Atlanta, she met her future husband Bobby — on her third day on the job, no less. Their relationship started with a test drive and flourished into a lifelong partnership, one marked by international travel and a love of music and food. When it came to food, Misti’s palate was as adventurous as her intellect. She had a particular fondness for Korean cuisine, and was an enthusiastic connoisseur of banchan. Misti was also a connoisseur of books and ideas, and rarely read without her trusty mechanical pencil in hand for copiously “tattooing” her books with notes.
Indeed, it was her fascination with language that turned her aspirations toward a fruitful career in academia. She earned her M.A. in Communication Studies from the University of Nevada, Las Vegas in 2016, and her Ph.D. in Communication from the University of Maryland in 2021. She most recently served as the Mellon Assistant Professor of the Public Communication of Science and Technology at Vanderbilt University, where she focused on the rhetoric and ethics of technology. As with her family and friends, she was also widely beloved by her students for her warmth, her generosity, and her beautiful mind.
Misti is survived by her husband Robert “Bobby” Tinshon Yang of Nashville, TN; mother Joanne Brooks Hewatt and partner Greg Bell of Grayson, GA; father Franklin “Frankie” Thomas Hewatt and stepmother Janice Stowe Hewatt of Monroe, GA; sister Shanda Hewatt Wread of Augusta, GA; and a beloved extended family including numerous aunts, uncles, nieces, nephews, and cousins.
Family and friends established the Misti Yang Impact Award to support and recognize graduate students in the Department of Communication at the University of Maryland, where Misti earned her doctoral degree. We are excited to memorialize her leadership and community-building in the department and extend Misti’s legacy through this award. Donations can be made in Misti’s memory.
Visitation to pay respects to the family were held on Sunday, April 2, 2023, from 3pm to 6pm at Cottage 84, 516 Grayson Parkway, Grayson, GA 30017.
A private memorial service was held on Saturday, April 15, 2023.