Florida professor quits after graduate assistant’s suicide

A University of Florida professor has resigned under investigation nearly two years after the suicide of a graduate assistant and fellow scientist from China he was accused of repeatedly bullying.

Tao Li, a professor of electrical engineering, agreed to leave the university shortly after an outside investigation affirmed academic misconduct along the lines alleged by his late assistant, Huixiang Chen.

The university had been conducting its own internal investigations, so far with mixed conclusions about Professor Li’s treatment of Mr Chen, who was found dead in a campus building in June 2019.

“Before the university could fully evaluate these concerns, Dr Li chose to resign,” a university spokeswoman said.

The university, however, has been under sustained criticism from students who believed it was taking too long to take action concerning Professor Li and an alleged broader culture of abuse by faculty at Florida.

Mr Chen, aged 30, was reported to have left notes to his girlfriend and others at the university describing pressure from Professor Li to submit an academic paper that they knew had flaws, and to help hide that fact.

Mr Chen was also reported to have complained separately about being pressured by Professor Li to handle a series of personal errands.

Professor Li, in turn, has written emails accusing Mr Chen’s friends of “intensively and maliciously” spreading false information about their relationship.

But this past February, the Association for Computing Machinery and the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers, after looking into the matter, jointly reported they found academic misconduct in a research paper submitted at a 2019 conference that the groups jointly sponsor.

Days later, the university placed Professor Li on paid leave, prohibiting him from working or talking with students or faculty, while letting him still collect his $153,000 (£110,000) salary. Professor Li agreed this month to resign, the university confirmed.

The student protests date back to Mr Chen’s death, with some alleging abuse by other Florida faculty beyond Professor Li. The University of Florida has reported almost 20 student suicides since 2014, with five involving graduate students.

The university cannot comment on pending investigations, the spokeswoman said. One of its completed probes did not support allegations of disruptive and abusive conduct against Professor Li, she said. Another investigation, however, did affirm concerns about Professor Li destroying documents and misusing non-university communications systems, she said.

The university, the spokeswoman said, remained “committed to ongoing efforts to build a culture of care where students, faculty and staff feel valued and respected”.

She listed relevant initiatives within the College of Engineering as including programmes to identify and manage stress, bridge funding for graduate students who requested to change advisers, and “supporting DIY Mental Health Day”.

paul.basken@timeshighereducation.com