She joined the School of Planning, Design, and Construction at Michigan State University (MSU) in 2007. She also holds a joint research appointment at the Center for Global Change and Earth Observations and is an adjunct faculty member of the Department of Geography. She has a doctorate in economic development and a master of science in electrical engineering and computer science, both from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Before she joined MSU, Dr. Fan worked as a Japan Society for the Promotion of Science Postdoctoral Fellow at the United Nations University in Tokyo. She has also served as a consultant/economist for the United Nations University–World Institute for Development Economics Research and the Asia Development Bank on innovation and economic development of emerging countries (China and India in particular) and urbanization in Asia.