The University of Tennessee at Knoxville recalled a professor who was acquitted by federal prosecutors who accused him of concealing his relationship with a Chinese university while receiving NASA research grants.
Nanotechnology expert Anming Hu returned to UT this week, his lawyer Phil Lomonaco told the Knoxville News Sentinel. He raised $ 300,000 to restart his research program and was given the same space in the lab.
Hu was arrested in February 2020, charged with wire fraud and false statements. The case was resolved last June, but the jury stalled. The plaintiffs made a statement that they intended to reconsider the case, but Judge Hu acquitted him in September.
The arrest is part of a broader approach by the Department of Justice, led by former President Donald Trump, to university investigators suspected of hiding his links with Chinese institutions.
Hu joined UT Knoxville in 2013 and was later invited by another professor to help apply for a NASA research grant. This grant application was not successful, but two subsequent applications were submitted. The 2012 law prohibits NASA from cooperating with Chinese or Chinese companies. The government has transferred the ban to Chinese universities for admission, and in addition to his position at UT, Hu is also a faculty member at Beijing University of Technology.