China Poached This Top Harvard Professor. Now He Wants Others to Join Him.

A facts-only brief, written by a local AI model from this article in The Wall Street Journal, November 15, 2026. It may contain mistakes, and it is not the article: the full story is at wsj.com.

Liu Jun, a former Harvard professor, has moved to Beijing to head a new statistics department at Tsinghua University, where he is seeking to recruit other American-based researchers of Chinese heritage. Liu stated that his hiring strategy prioritizes Chinese nationals, aiming to attract scholars who want to return to their home country for family or career reasons. His departure is part of a wider exodus of senior academics from American universities to Chinese institutions, a trend that includes other prominent figures like Nobel laureate Omar Yaghi.

Background

• Researchers at Princeton and Harvard estimate that 668 senior scientists of Chinese origin departed U.S. academic posts for foreign roles between 2022 and 2026.
• The National Science Foundation found that 83% of Chinese engineering and science doctorates remained in the U.S. five years after completing their degrees.
• U.S. News & World Report ranks Tsinghua University at number six globally, placing it above Yale, Columbia, and Princeton.
• Seton Hall law professor Margaret Lewis observed that a significant number of scholars are either leaving or deciding against moving to the U.S.

Read the full article at wsj.com

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