Former molecular biology professor Jason Lieb resigned in January from his position as a Professor of Molecular Biology at the University of Chicago after allegations of sexual misconduct.
Lieb, who joined the University’s faculty in July 2013 and served as the director of the Lewis-Sigler Institute for Integrative Genomics, resigned from the University seven months later in February 2014.
The reasons for his resignation were unspecified at the time. His resignation was effective July 2014.
Lieb did not respond to requests for comment.
Assistant Provost and Director of the Office for Equal Opportunity Programs at the University of Chigago Sarah Wake, who issued the letter on the school’s investigation, deferred comment to Jeremy Manier, Acting Associate Vice President for Communications at University of Chicago.
Manier deferred comment to a statement, which read that the University of Chicago's Title IX Coordinator concluded in January that Lieb’s conduct violated the school’s Policy on Harassment, Discrimination and Sexual Misconduct and recommended that the institution terminate Lieb's employment.
According to theNew York Times, an investigation made by officials at the University of Chicago found that Lieb made unwelcome sexual advances on several female graduate students at an off-campus retreat of the school’s molecular biosciences division, and that Lieb had engaged in sexual activity with a student who was incapacitated due to alcohol.
Lieb's resignation came before any disciplinary action was taken in response to the allegations of his misconduct.
The statement noted that Lieb, prior to his hire, had informed the University of Chicago about an allegation at an institution he worked for previously. The institution where the allegation took place had conducted an investigation but did not find Lieb to have violated sexual misconduct policies. The statement did not specify the name of the institution.
University Media Relations Specialist Min Pullan said that the reasons for Lieb’s resignation remain unknown, and declined to further comment on his personal file from his years at the University.
“We don’t comment on personnel matters at all,” she said.
Pullan declined to confirm whether allegations of sexual misconduct were ever brought against Lieb while he was at the University.
University Molecular Biology Department Chair Bonnie Bassler did not respond to comment.
Lieb is a recipient of several federal grants and fellowships, including the 2007 $7.2 million modENCODE grant from the National Human Genome Research Institute.
Prior to joining the University, Lieb taught at University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill from 2002 to 2013 and served as the director of the school’s Carolina Center for Genomic Sciences.
He received a bachelor's degree in biology from the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill and a doctoral degree in genetics from the University of California at Berkeley. He completed his postdoctoral work at Stanford University.
The University has recently re-examined its policies on consensual sexual relations between students and faculty, which is reflected in a change to “Rights, Rules, Responsibilities” enacted in December.
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