FBI investigates China ties of Ohio State professor who resigned,disappeared
Professor Rongxing Li was a star at Ohio State University, attractinginternational attention as he helped NASA rovers explore Mars in the pastdecade.
Then, early last year, Li quit his post as OSU’s premier mapping expert anddisappeared. No news release was issued to explain his departure, and mostinformation about his 18-year tenure at Ohio State was removed from theuniversity’s website.
Now, federal search warrants filed in U.S. District Court in Columbus revealthat the FBI was investigating Li, trying to determine whether he shareddefense secrets with the Chinese.
Li, 56, a U.S. citizen who grew up in China, had been director of the OSUmapping and geographic information system laboratory. Also known as Ron Li,he held an endowed chair in the OSU Department of Civil, Environmental andGeodetic Engineering and was known worldwide for his work in mapping.
His renown came, in part, when NASA selected him to help with its 2003 and2009 Mars exploration missions. His troubles, too, began with NASA projects.
OSU, the FBI and NASA declined to comment about the case. But searchwarrants unsealed in August lay out why the government took a hard look atLi.
In January 2014, Li submitted a $36.9 million proposal to NASA for imagingwork for a 2020 Mars mission. As part of that proposal, Li had access toDepartment of Defense technical information that he was prohibited fromsharing with the Chinese, according to search warrants.
Li had claimed in the proposal that he had no relationships with Chinesescientists. But OSU researchers knew he had spent 2012 on sabbatical atTongji University in Shanghai, so Ohio State began an internal investigationto determine why Li had not notified NASA of his China connections.
Investigators determined that Li had numerous, ongoing connections withTongji, including being listed as a professor and as the director of acenter for spatial information. The investigators also found online evidencethat he had collaborated with Chinese-government programs to developadvanced technologies, serving as chief scientist for one project.
On Feb. 15, 2014, Li notified Ohio State and NASA that he was withdrawingfrom the Mars 2020 project. He also told Ohio State that he was in Chinacaring for his sick parents. A few days later, he emailed his resignation tothe university. According to a search warrant, he said, “With this email Iresign from my position at the Ohio State University.”
Jeff Grabmeier, a spokesman for university research, confirmed Li’sunexpected resignation but said he couldn’t discuss it further and couldnot say why Li left.
According to the search warrant, Ohio State then called the FBI because ofthe “unusual circumstances of Li’s departure and the restricted andsensitive nature of some of his research.” The university told the FBI thatLi had access to International Traffic in Arms Regulations information withNASA and with Raytheon, a defense contractor.
As part of the FBI investigation, Homeland Security agents stopped andsearched Li’s wife, Jue Tian, 56, in San Francisco before she boarded aplane for China on March 1, 2014. Agents seized Tian’s computer, acellphone and several thumb drives. The thumb drives contained restricteddefense information, the warrant says.
Investigators also searched Li’s home in Upper Arlington. According toFranklin County property records, Li and his wife purchased the five-bedroomhouse on Lane Road in 1997.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Deborah Solove said no charges have been filedagainst Li or his wife. She would not comment further.
Charles Toth, an OSU researcher who worked in the same department as Li,said Li ran “his own show” at the university and didn’t work with manyother professors. He said he couldn’t say more because of “the sensitivity” of the case. Other professors contacted by The Dispatch didn’t returnphone calls.
In 2014, Li was one of five scientists named as fellows for the AmericanSociety for Photogrammetry and Remote Sensing. His name, however, is nolonger on the society’s online list of 2014 fellows.
Society President Stephen D. DeGloria said he knew Li had left Ohio Stateand was living in China but had no details of the FBI investigation. He saidLi had been nominated as a fellow before he quit at Ohio State.
The Upper Arlington house has been for sale since June.
Tian, who returned from China in mid-2014, did not respond to a request foran interview.
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