Identity
About Charles M. Lieber
Titles and dates come from the Tsinghua SIGS English bio, the DOJ releases, and the D. Mass. docket. Emphasis is the compiler’s. Identity confidence: high for Charles M. Lieber. No free-license portrait was located; none was generated.
Charles M. Lieber is a chemist and nanoscientist. The public record that locks this person is United States v. Lieber, No. 1:20-cr-10111 (D. Mass.), Judge Rya W. Zobel, plus the Tsinghua SIGS faculty page in his name. This page is identity. The episodes live in the posts.
Do not conflate: Charles S. Lieber (1931–2009), a Belgian-American physician and nutrition researcher on alcohol and liver disease, is a different middle initial, a different field, and deceased. This site is only Charles M. Lieber.
Documented roles
- B.A. Franklin & Marshall, 1981; Ph.D. Stanford, 1985; Caltech postdoc 1985–1987. Tsinghua SIGS English bio.
- Columbia Chemistry, 1987–1991; Harvard from 1991 (through 2023 on the SIGS page). SIGS; FBI affidavit (~1991).
- Chair, Harvard Chemistry and Chemical Biology, 2015–2020. SIGS; DOJ.
- Joshua and Beth Friedman University Professor, Harvard, 2017. SIGS news page.
- Wolf Prize in Chemistry, 2012. Listed on SIGS materials. Award claim is the university’s list, not re-litigated here.
- January 28, 2020. Arrested; criminal complaint, false statements. DOJ.
- December 21, 2021. Jury conviction, six counts (two § 1001; two § 7206(1); two FBAR). DOJ PR.
- February 1, 2023. Retired from Harvard (Crimson, spokesperson). Post.
- April 26, 2023. Sentenced: time served; two years supervised release, first six months home detention; $50,000 fine; $600 SA; $33,600 restitution. Docket.
- April 28, 2025–present. Full-time faculty / Chair Professor, Tsinghua SIGS. University page.
What this site is not
It is not a finding of espionage. Participation in Thousand Talents or a WUT title was not itself the crime. Commentary that he “sold America to the CCP,” or that the case was only “China Initiative racism,” is labeled commentary. It is not a White House product. It is not lawsuit-proof. Read the posts.