Harvard Named Him Chair, Then University Professor

DOCUMENTED

Documented: the English faculty page for Charles M. Lieber at Tsinghua Shenzhen International Graduate School (SIGS) states that after Columbia (1987–1991) he held a faculty position at Harvard University (1991–2023), served as Chair of the Department of Chemistry and Chemical Biology (2015–2020), and was named a University Professor (2017). A later SIGS news item calls that 2017 appointment the Joshua and Beth Friedman University Professor, which it describes as Harvard’s highest faculty distinction.

The January 2020 FBI affidavit in support of the criminal complaint states he was a full-time faculty member and Chair of that department and had been affiliated with Harvard since approximately 1991.

The Harvard Crimson later reported a university spokesperson confirmed he retired from Harvard on February 1, 2023. See that post.

Sources

Tsinghua SIGS, English faculty page, Charles M. Lieber. Accessed 2026-08-22. www.sigs.tsinghua.edu.cn (primary)

Tsinghua SIGS, “Professor Charles M. Lieber Elected Member of the European Academy of Engineering,” 2026-08-03. www.sigs.tsinghua.edu.cn (primary)

FBI affidavit / criminal complaint PDF (DOJ). Affiliated with Harvard since ~1991; Chair, CCB. www.justice.gov (primary)

Harvard Crimson, “Embattled Harvard Chemistry Professor Charles Lieber Retires,” 2023-03-08 (retirement confirmation). www.thecrimson.com (reporting)

Opinion

The following is commentary by this site. It is not a finding of fact and not a legal conclusion.

Compiler take

Chair. Then University Professor. The titles are real. So is the later docket. A prize résumé is not a defense to a false-statement count.