Ole Miss student Frank Anderson, 22 of Winter Park, Florida, died Saturday, Oct. 1, in Shanghai, China. The cause of his death is currently under investigation.

Anderson was a student with the University of Mississippi’s Chinese Flagship program.

Donald Dyer, chair of modern languages at the university and co-director of the UM Chinese Language Flagship Program, said, “The entire Ole Miss community is heartbroken over the unexpected death of Frank Anderson, one of our finest and most dedicated students. We offer our deepest sympathy to Frank’s family, friends and fellow students.”

William Kneip, a friend of Frank Anderson, said Anderson had devoted his life to the betterment of the world.

“He spent his last months in China mentoring young Chinese students and speaking about ethics within government,” Kneip said. “He spent his years at Ole Miss filling us with nothing short of pure happiness and laughter. Frank had done exactly what he wanted to with his life. The world lost a great one.”

Anderson was a fifth-year senior participating in the Flagship program’s Capstone Year in China and directly enrolled at Nanjing University. He was a member of Phi Delta Theta fraternity at Ole Miss.

According to University of Mississippi Chapter of Global China Connection (GCC), Anderson recognized the potential of Global China Connection and had a vision of starting his own chapter in the state of Mississippi.

A statement released from GCC said, “Frank built our chapter from the ground up and served as its first president. He epitomized the goal of Global China Connection by living a life devoted toward building relationships that would change the world.”

UM officials are assisting members of Anderson’s family during this tragic time. UM will share details regarding arrangements and services as this information becomes available.

Randall Haley is the managing editor of HottyToddy.com. She can be reached at randall.haley@hottytoddyarchive.com.