The University of Tennessee at Knoxville will offer to rehire Anming Hu, a professor who was fired after being charged with wire fraud and making false statements.
According to a letter obtained by the Knoxville News Sentinel, Provost and Senior Vice Chancellor John Zomchick detailed a host of incentives for Hu to return to the campus.
Knox News reported:
- A tenured faculty position in the Tickle College of Engineering;
- Back pay for the time he was suspended without pay. However, he will not be paid for the time between his termination and his reinstatement;
- Payment for an immigration attorney at the same rate he was paying his original immigration attorney;
- Assistance in helping him reestablish his research program, totaling $200,000 over three years;
- An explanation of what the university is doing to support his work visa. Hu needs a visa to work at the university because he is a naturalized Canadian citizen
Hu, who was an Associate Professor in the Department of Mechanical, Aerospace and Biomedical Engineering, was accused of hiding his relationship with a Chinese university while receiving funding from NASA, the Department of Justice said in a statement.
During the investigation, the university cooperated with investigators and suspended Hu without pay.
However, after an extended period of time, the DOJ elected to charge Hu with wire fraud and making false statements. But, the jury in the case remained deadlocked, and the judge elected to declare a mistrial.
The Department of Justice had planned to attempt a second trial. But, Judge Thomas Varlan, appointed by former President George Bush, acquitted Hu last month, after Hu’s attorneys made a motion to dismiss the charges due to lack of evidence.
If Hu had been found guilty, he could have faced up to 20 years in federal prison with five additional years for each count of false statements and $250,000 for each count of wire fraud.
Hu has not definitively stated if he will accept the position.
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Cooper Moran is a reporter for The Star News Network. Follow Cooper on Twitter. Email tips to [email protected].
Photo “University of Tennessee” by University of Tennessee.
