On Nov. 7, 2025, Fang Lei, Ph.D., a long-time professor with Texas A&M University’s chemistry department, has returned to China to join the cutting-edge Yongjiang Laboratory, a state-backed research centre that has drawn a cumulative investment of more than 26 billion yuan (US$3.65 billion) in less than four years.

Fang built a distinguished career in the United States over nearly two decades, rising to be deputy head of the chemistry department at Texas A&M. He resigned from the university earlier this year to assume a full-time position at Yongjiang Laboratory, also known as Y-Lab.

Fang now serves as chair professor and director of the Centre for Functional Organic Materials at Y-Lab, leading efforts to pioneer next-generation organic materials for applications in flexible electronics, wearables, brain-computer interfaces and renewable energy technologies.