Feng "Franklin" Tao

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Franklin Feng Tao
Born(1971-08-28)August 28, 1971
Alma mater
Awards
Scientific career
InstitutionsUniversity of California, Berkeley

Franklin Feng Tao (born August 28, 1971) is a chemical engineer who has been a Miller Associate Professor at the University of Kansas since 2014.[2] His research areas of specialization are heterogeneous catalysis, energy chemistry, nanoscience and surface science. He has published over 180 papers in international journals. He received the National Science Foundation Career Award by the Chemical Catalysis Program for research and became a fellow of the Royal Society of Chemistry in 2013.[3]

Tao served on the advisory boards of Chemical Society Reviews and Catalysis Science & Technology.[4]

Education

Tao received his Ph.D. in the field of Physical Chemistry from Princeton University,[5] followed by his postdoctoral research in catalysis at University of California at Berkeley.

Research and career

Tao did research on the In Situ studies of chemistry & structure of materials in reactive environments,[6] and conducted his further studies on reactor for tracking catalyst nanoparticles[7] in liquid at high temperature under a high-pressure gas phase with X-ray absorption spectroscopy.[8]

Tao started his career as an assistant professor at the University of Notre Dame.[9] During his tenure at the University of Kansas, he became Miller Associate Professor in the Department of Chemical & Petroleum Engineering and Chemistry[10] and also serves as the Director of Nanocatalysis for Chemical and Energy Transformations Lab.[11]

Federal charges

In 2019, the United States Department of Justice indicted Tao for 'failing to disclose conflict of interest with a Chinese university',[12] as the first case of its China Initiative.[13][14] The evidence used by the Department of Justice was obtained after Tao was reported to the FBI for alleged espionage by a vengeful co-author, who presented manufactured evidence to the FBI. Based on this evidence, the FBI obtained a search warrant. Tao was subsequently indicted for an email regarding a contract to teach in China, but not for alleged espionage.[15][16] Tao and his lawyer have rebutted the accusations, claiming that the contract was neither signed nor accepted by Tao. Using a GoFundMe campaign and loans from family members, Tao and his family raised "hundreds of thousands of dollars" to fund their defense.[14]

On April 7, 2022, Tao was convicted by a jury of "three counts of wire fraud and one count of false statements" for not disclosing the contract on conflict of interest forms.[17][18][19]

On September 20, 2022, a federal judge threw out the three convictions of wire fraud, leaving the count of making false statements on a form. The judge ruled that prosecutors had not provided sufficient evidence to prove the wire fraud convictions.[20]

Personal life

Tao is married to Hong Peng, a radiologist.[14]

Awards and honors

  • 2018, Bellow Scholar Award [citation needed]
  • 2017, Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS)[10]
  • 2014, Miller Research Award[21]
  • 2014, NSF Career Award [citation needed]
  • 2013, Fellow of the Royal Society of Chemistry (RSC) [citation needed]
  • 2012, AVS Paul Holloway Award[22]
  • 2011, Finalist prize of Gerhard Ertl Young Investigator Award[citation needed]
  • 2010, Eugene P. Wigner Fellowship [citation needed]
  • 2007, IUPAC Young Chemists Award[22]

See also

  • Gang Chen (engineer), another Chinese-American scientist controversially indicted as part of the China Initiative

References

  1. ^ "Franklin Feng Tao". ku.edu. 2017-12-04. Archived from the original on October 29, 2019.
  2. ^ "Franklin Tao". Department of Chemistry. 2014-12-09. Retrieved 2019-10-10.
  3. ^ "NSF Award Search: Award#1462121 - CAREER: Catalysis on Singly Dispersed Bimetallic Catalytic Sites". NSF. Retrieved 2019-10-10.
  4. ^ Dame, Marketing Communications: Web // University of Notre. "Franklin (Feng) Tao accepted invitation to serve on advisory board of Catalysis Science and Technology, a new journal led by UK Royal Society of Chemistry (RSC) // Notre Dame Energy // University of Notre Dame". Notre Dame Energy. Retrieved 2019-10-10.
  5. ^ "Franklin (Feng) Tao". Chemical and Petroleum Engineering. 2014-11-12. Retrieved 2019-10-10.
  6. ^ Tao, Franklin (Feng); Salmeron, Miquel (2011-01-14). "In Situ Studies of Chemistry and Structure of Materials in Reactive Environments". Science. 331 (6014): 171–174. Bibcode:2011Sci...331..171T. doi:10.1126/science.1197461. ISSN 0036-8075. PMID 21233377.
  7. ^ Nguyen, Luan; Tao, Franklin (Feng) (2018-02-01). "Reactor for tracking catalyst nanoparticles in liquid at high temperature under a high-pressure gas phase with X-ray absorption spectroscopy". Review of Scientific Instruments. 89 (2): 024102. Bibcode:2018RScI...89b4102N. doi:10.1063/1.5003184. ISSN 0034-6748. OSTI 1540128. PMID 29495804.
  8. ^ Attorney: Kansas Researcher Denies Concealing Chinese Work Jan. 16, 2020 U.S News
  9. ^ "NSF Award Search: Award#1462121 - CAREER: Catalysis on Singly Dispersed Bimetallic Catalytic Sites". nsf.gov. Retrieved 2019-10-10.
  10. ^ a b "Franklin (Feng) Tao named AAAS Fellow". Chemical and Petroleum Engineering. 2017-12-04. Retrieved 2019-10-10.
  11. ^ "Franklin Feng Tao" (PDF).{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  12. ^ "University of Kansas Researcher Indicted for Fraud for Failing to Disclose Conflict of Interest with Chinese University". www.justice.gov. 2019-08-21. Retrieved 2022-01-22.
  13. ^ "University of Kansas chemist Feng 'Franklin' Tao's attorneys move to dismiss charges for fraud and false statements". cen.acs.org. Retrieved 2022-01-22.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  14. ^ a b c "How US scheme to catch Chinese spies is enabling what it tries to prevent". South China Morning Post. 2022-01-22. Retrieved 2022-01-22.
  15. ^ Prasso, Sheridan (2021-12-14). "China Initiative Set Out to Catch Spies. It Didn't Find Many". Bloomberg. Retrieved 2022-01-22.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  16. ^ Nakashima, Ellen (2021-08-24). "Kansas professor says FBI misled court in alleging hidden ties to Chinese government".{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  17. ^ "Kansas researcher convicted of illegal secret China work". POLITICO. Associated Press. Retrieved 2022-04-08.
  18. ^ "Kansas Researcher Convicted of Illegally Hiding Ties to China". VOA. Retrieved 2022-04-08.
  19. ^ "Kansas researcher convicted of illegal secret China work". ABC News. Retrieved 2022-04-08.
  20. ^ Stafford, Margaret (September 20, 2022). "Judge tosses most charges against Kansas researcher". Associated Press. Retrieved September 23, 2022.
  21. ^ "New charges filed against University of Kansas chemist Feng "Franklin" Tao". Chemical & Engineering News. Retrieved 2020-10-09.
  22. ^ a b "Franklin (Feng) Tao | Petroleum Engineering 2016 | Conferenceseries Ltd". petroleumengineering.insightconferences.com. Retrieved 2019-10-10.
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