Jason Covert, one of the lawyers representing Xiaofeng Wang and his wife, Nianli MA, library systems analyst whose employees’ profile was also removed by the University of Indiana, Wired that Wang and Ma are both “safe” and that no one was arrested. Their legal team is currently not aware of any criminal accusation in progress against them, and although the couple’s lawyers have consulted a search warrant from the Ministry of Justice, Covert says that they have not received a copy of the affidavit establishing a probable cause.
Wang is considered among the best researchers in the field of privacy, data security and biometric privacy, and its sudden disappearance was a shock for many of its academic peers. Wang joined IU in 2004 and is the main principal researcher at the Multidisciplinary Center for Distributed Confidential IT, which he created in 2022 with a almost $ 3 million National Science Foundation subsidy (NSF), according to a Organic deleted since on the IU website. As part of its NSF financing request and other American federal research grants, Wang would have been required to disclose Other subsidies that he has already received or currently pending.
On March 28, the FBI searched two reception addresses associated with Wang. On the same day, Iu would also have ended Wang’s work via an email sent by the Rahul Shrivastav provost, which won and was reported for the first time by Indiana daily student. The email also said it was understood that Wang had recently accepted a position with a university in Singapore, a detail also repeated in the press release assigned to Li.
The press release said Wang planned to start at the unnamed Singaporean University on June 1, 2025 and asked for leave at the University of Indiana in early March. But Iu replied by “putting him on administrative leave, deleting his home page IU and deactivating his IU email address,” he said.
Wang’s new job offer “would not be relevant in any case because it is for [the] The next academic year and would not justify dismissing him, ”explains Tanford. Ending his job by email has been a violation of policySays Tanford, who prohibits dismissing a full professor without reason, and requires a notice of 10 days and a hearing before a faculty examination council, if the staff member asked. “The faculty is deeply concerned. If the administration can dismiss a full professor without regular procedure and in violation of a policy approved by our trustee, none of us is sure, “he said.
Affected to comment, an IU spokesperson refused to answer Wired’s detailed questions about previous communications between University and Wang and the school’s decision to dismiss him.
“The University of Indiana has recently been informed of a federal investigation into a member of the faculty at the University of Indiana,” said University spokesman Mark Bode in Wired in a statement sent by email. “In the direction of the FBI, the University of Indiana will not comment on the public concerning this survey. In accordance with the practices of the University of Indiana, the University of Indiana will also not make public comments concerning the status of this person. ”
