Lei Fang

Fang Lei (方磊, born 1983) is a prominent Chinese chemist who returned to China in 2025 after nearly two decades in the United States, joining Yongjiang Laboratory (Y-Lab) in Ningbo as Chair Professor and Director of the Centre for Functional Organic Materials. He previously served as Deputy Head of the Chemistry Department at Texas A&M University, where he built a distinguished career over 12 years.

Fang began his PhD at UCLA under Nobel Prize-winning chemist Fraser Stoddart, then followed Stoddart to Northwestern University where he completed his doctorate in 2010. He subsequently did postdoctoral research at Stanford University under Professor Bao Zhenan before joining Texas A&M in 2013.

His research focuses on next-generation organic materials for flexible electronics, wearable devices, brain-computer interfaces, and renewable energy technologies. He chose to return to China to bridge the gap between basic science and industrial application, citing China's strong manufacturing base and supply chain as key factors. Y-Lab has received over 26 billion yuan in investment since its founding in 2021.