(Bloomberg) -- The leader of Washington-based scientific society Optica and the head of its foundation have left the group amid investigations into its decades-long alliance with sanctioned Chinese telecommunications giant Huawei Technologies Co.
Optica Chief Executive Officer Elizabeth Rogan and Chad Stark, who ran the group’s foundation, are no longer with the organization, according to an internal email seen by Bloomberg News. Their departures come after Bloomberg reported how Optica had cultivated ties with Huawei for years despite national-security concerns around the company.
The departures were linked to Rogan and Stark’s work with Huawei, according to one person familiar with the matter. An Optica spokesman declined to comment beyond the email announcing the departures. Neither Rogan, Stark, nor Huawei returned requests for comment.
Huawei Secretly Backs US Research, Awarding Millions in Prizes
Lawmakers on the House Science, Space and Technology Committee began investigating the connections between Optica and Huawei in May after Bloomberg reported that the company had secretly sponsored a research contest run by the group. The competition has awarded millions of dollars to top university researchers since its inception in 2022.
“We are encouraged that Optica is now taking decisive steps on this matter,” said Science Committee Chairman Frank Lucas and Ranking Member Zoe Lofgren in a Monday statement about Rogan and Stark’s departures. “Accepting and anonymizing funds from a sanctioned Chinese company is wholly inappropriate.”
Rogan and a Huawei spokesman have both previously defended the relationship and said it was aimed at promoting scientific exploration.
Research by Optica’s 24,000 individual members applies to sensitive areas such as semiconductors — a key battleground in the US-China tech competition, and one where Huawei is a major player. US intelligence officials and lawmakers from both parties have warned for more than a decade that telecommunications equipment made by Huawei could allow China to conduct espionage and poses a national security risk.
In June, Optica decided to return the funds that Huawei had committed to the research competition and to remove the company’s representation on the judges’ panel. Rogan said in a June 3 communication to staff that Optica was reviewing its policies to ensure transparency.
Subsequent reporting by Bloomberg based on a review of internal records documented how the ties between the century-old professional society and the company ran far deeper than publicly known. An under-the-radar visit by Rogan to the company’s headquarters in November during an otherwise widely publicized trip to China became part of a whistleblower complaint at Optica challenging the nonprofit’s partnership with Huawei.
Optica’s board of directors has named the group’s deputy executive director, Elizabeth Nolan, to serve as interim chief executive officer, according to the email seen by Bloomberg.
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