NIEHS COURTESY OF MICHAELGARSKEMolecular biologist Jason Lieb resigned his position at the University of Chicago last month as a university investigation found him guilty of sexually harassing female graduate students at an off-campus retreat for the school’s molecular biosciences division, according to The New York Times. In a letter obtained by the New York Times, university officials recommended that the 43-year-old Lieb be fired for his transgressions, which included engaging in sexual activity with a student who was, as the officials put it, “incapacitated due to alcohol and therefore could not consent.”
“In light of the severity and pervasiveness of Professor Lieb’s conduct, and the broad, negative impact the conduct has had on the educational and work environment of students, faculty and staff, I recommend that the university terminate Professor Lieb’s academic appointment,” reads the letter, which was signed by the University of Chicago’s Sarah Wake, assistant provost and director of the Office for Equal Opportunity Programs.
These latest allegations of misconduct are not the first that have been made against Lieb. A graduate student from his laboratory at the University of North Carolina (UNC), Chapel Hill—where Lieb held a faculty position for more than a decade—apparently filed a complaint of unwanted contact against him. A subsequent university investigation failed to find enough evidence to support that ...
