KU professor indicted for not disclosing Chinese ties

KANSAS CITY, Mo. — A University of Kansas associate professor has been indicted by federal prosecutors for failing to disclose a conflict of interest with China.

As a condition of his full-time employment as a researcher for KU’s Center for Environmentally Beneficial Catalysis, Feng “Franklin” Tao was required to disclose any conflicts of interest relating to his employment.

In May 2018, Tao signed a five-year contract with China-based Fuzhou University to be a full-time “Changjiang Scholar Distinguished Professor.”

Court documents released Wednesday allege that not only did Tao fail to inform the university’s Board of Regents of his work for Fuzhou University, he signed a declaration that he didn’t have any conflicts of interest.

University of Kansas Chancellor Douglas A. Girod said that following the indictment, Tao has been placed on paid administrative leave.

"We take these allegations very seriously," Girod said in a statement Wednesday. "We learned of this potential criminal activity this spring, and we reported it to authorities and have cooperated with the ongoing investigation."

Girod said that he could not speak further due to the matter involving personnel.