Liu Gang

Profession: Physicist

Liu Gang, a Chinese physicist, was imprisoned in 1989 for his involvement in the Tiananmen Square demonstrations on charges of "conspiracy to overthrow the government." Liu was sentenced to a six-year term. A democracy activist since the mid-1980s, Liu was third on the government's most wanted list of students. Liu was released from prison in 1996. After constant harassment to himself and his family, Liu was forced to flee China. Liu Gang currently lives in New York where he was continuing his studies at Columbia University.