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Jeffrey Epstein maintained a long-term, multifaceted relationship with Harvard University, characterized by significant financial donations such as his $30 million pledge [1], [2], [3] and deep social and professional ties to faculty members like Martin Nowak, Alan Dershowitz, and Larry Summers [4], [5], [6]. This connection persisted for decades, involving campus visits, office access, and institutional scrutiny following his criminal convictions [7], [8], [9], [10].
Facts (111)
Sources
Desperately seeking donors: Lessons from the Epstein case universityworldnews.com 24 facts
quoteIn a 2019 message, then-Harvard president Lawrence S. Bacow stated that he "profoundly regrets" Harvard's past association with Jeffrey Epstein.
claimJeffrey Epstein's publicist requested that his name be attached to a Harvard.edu URL to improve his Google search results.
measurementJeffrey Epstein paid a US$10,000 fee to obtain the title of visiting fellow at Harvard University.
quoteDuring his visits to Martin Nowak's laboratory at Harvard, Jeffrey Epstein generally chose the guest list and sometimes asked questions, but did not generally lead the discussions or choose the topics.
claimJeffrey Epstein's website claimed in 2020 that his foundation established the Program for Evolutionary Dynamics at Harvard University with a US$35 million gift, whereas the actual amount was US$6.5 million.
accountHarvard University renewed Jeffrey Epstein's status as a visiting fellow for a second year after he indicated an intention to work with researchers Kosslyn and Nowak.
measurementAfter donating US$200,000 to Stephen M. Kosslyn, the head of the Harvard department of psychology, Jeffrey Epstein asked Kosslyn in 2005 to endorse him for a position as a Harvard visiting fellow.
measurementBetween 2010 and October 2018, Jeffrey Epstein visited the laboratory of Martin Nowak at Harvard University approximately five times per year.
accountHarvard University convinced Jeffrey Epstein to withdraw as a visiting fellow after criminal charges against him became public in late July 2006.
claimJeffrey Epstein obtained an office and a telephone line in Nowak's laboratory at Harvard, which allowed him access in violation of existing Harvard rules regarding non-Harvard personnel.
claimJeffrey Epstein's public relations representative explicitly stated that a link on Harvard's network would be very helpful for symbolic capital.
claimJeffrey Epstein did not possess the required academic credentials for a visiting fellow nomination at Harvard University, which mandated that applicants hold a PhD or equivalent, or be advanced doctoral candidates.
referenceAccording to a Harvard report, Jeffrey Epstein used the Program for Evolutionary Dynamics (PED) offices to gather academics to hear scholars discuss subjects he found interesting.
quoteOn September 15, 2006, Harvard refunded Epstein his tuition for the 2006-2007 academic year.
claimThe Harvard Office of Alumni Affairs and Development courted Jeffrey Epstein as a potential donor due to his connections and visibility in the financial field.
claimMartin A. Nowak used the US$6.5 million donation from Jeffrey Epstein to rent research space for his team at Harvard University.
claimIn 2021, Harvard suspended Nowak from supervising undergraduate research and closed the Program for Evolutionary Dynamics (PED) after his continuing links with Jeffrey Epstein were uncovered.
claimHarvard University decided not to accept any more money from Jeffrey Epstein after his arrest in July 2006, but chose to retain previous gifts, arguing that the funds were supporting important research in mathematics, evolutionary theory, viruses, and cancer.
claimJeffrey Epstein attempted to have Harvard University and MIT accept new donations from him and his foundations after 2008.
measurementJeffrey Epstein donated approximately US$8.5 million to Harvard University between 1998 and 2006.
claimBeginning in 1992, senior leaders at Harvard University met with Jeffrey Epstein to seek his financial support.
claimJeffrey Epstein frequently traveled to Boston to hold meetings with groups of scientists from both Harvard University and MIT.
claimHarvard psychologist Steven Pinker was drawn into Jeffrey Epstein's social circle through mutual friends, despite never receiving funding from Epstein.
claimHarvard University and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) commissioned reports in autumn 2019 regarding their associations with Jeffrey Epstein.
Exclusive: Harvard cut off Epstein donations, but emails reveal his ... cnn.com 19 facts
claimMartin Nowak provided Jeffrey Epstein with unrestricted access to Harvard offices via a key card as late as 2018, according to a Harvard University report.
claimHarvard University sanctioned Martin Nowak in 2021 for his connections to Jeffrey Epstein, though he remains employed at the university.
accountA 2020 Harvard University investigation revealed that Jeffrey Epstein helped biologist Martin Nowak raise funds to maintain an office space in Harvard Square.
measurementJeffrey Epstein donated $9.1 million to Harvard University between 1998 and 2008.
claimIn 2013, a few Harvard faculty members requested that the university reconsider its decision not to accept contributions from Jeffrey Epstein, but the then-dean rejected the request.
accountJeffrey Epstein frequently used Martin Nowak's office at Harvard as a base for meetings with George Church and other scientists when visiting Boston, according to Justice Department files and a Harvard investigation.
claimJeffrey Epstein communicated via text message with a college student who was aware of his association with Harvard scientist George Church.
claimHarvard University President Drew Faust decided that Harvard would no longer accept gifts from Jeffrey Epstein in 2008.
claimFormer Harvard President Larry Summers stepped aside from his teaching role due to his relationship with Jeffrey Epstein and stated that he was “deeply ashamed” about his ties to the convicted sex offender.
accountIn a 2015 deposition, Alan Dershowitz stated that top Harvard scientists, including George Church, frequently saw Jeffrey Epstein accompanied by young women at academic meetings.
claimJeffrey Epstein established an investment company with George Church, a professor at Harvard’s Wyss Institute for Biologically Inspired Engineering.
claimIn 2013, a few Harvard faculty members requested that the university reconsider its decision to stop accepting contributions from Jeffrey Epstein, but the then-dean rejected the request.
claimIn November 2025, Harvard University announced a new investigation into nearly a dozen current and former Harvard affiliates regarding their associations with Jeffrey Epstein, including former Harvard President Larry Summers.
claimJeffrey Epstein sent a text message asking an unnamed individual to meet with a mother and her daughter on the Harvard University campus on a Saturday morning.
claimA 2020 Harvard report concluded that members of the Harvard office of development staff were aware that Jeffrey Epstein was indirectly orchestrating millions of dollars in donations between 2010 and 2015 and continued to invite him to campus events.
claimAlan Dershowitz, who served as a Harvard law professor until his retirement in 2013, maintained a close relationship with Jeffrey Epstein.
accountIn 2012, an unnamed individual sent emails to Jeffrey Epstein confirming they successfully secured press coverage for the work of Harvard scientist Martin Nowak and Epstein's funding of that work through his foundation.
claimHarvard University decided in 2008 to refuse future donations from Jeffrey Epstein following his conviction for soliciting prostitution, including from a minor.
measurementHarvard University estimated that Jeffrey Epstein had contributed $9.1 million to the institution prior to 2008, according to a 2020 Harvard report.
College Campuses Are in Upheaval Over Faculty Ties to Epstein wired.com 13 facts
claimHarvard University sanctioned professor Martin Nowak in 2021 for violating professional conduct codes due to his involvement with Jeffrey Epstein.
measurementHarvard University closed the Program for Evolutionary Dynamics, which had received $6.5 million from Jeffrey Epstein in 2003.
claimJeffrey Epstein was appointed a Visiting Fellow in Harvard University’s Department of Psychology in 2005, but a later investigation by Harvard concluded that he did very little to pursue his course of study.
claimLarry Summers, the former president of Harvard University, resigned from a number of high-profile appointments in November after the extent of his friendship with Jeffrey Epstein was revealed by a release of DOJ files.
accountPhysicist Lisa Randall and professor Martin Nowak met with Jeffrey Epstein in person and continued to correspond with him for years after he pleaded guilty to sex crimes in Florida and was officially prohibited from donating to Harvard University.
accountIn 2007, while employed at Harvard, Mark Tramo sent a supportive message to an assistant of Jeffrey Epstein while Epstein was preparing a plea deal for sex crime charges in Florida.
claimIn December, PBS dropped the TV series "Poetry in America," which was created by Harvard English professor emerita Elisa New, because the nonprofit that developed the series received a sizable donation from Jeffrey Epstein and was partially subsidized by Harvard University.
claimHarvard University has expanded an investigation into its institutional links with Jeffrey Epstein, focusing on both faculty members and unnamed donors.
perspectiveAlex Bronzini-Vender, a Harvard student and writer for the Crimson, stated that campus unrest regarding faculty ties to Jeffrey Epstein is significant.
claimDocuments released in January highlighted connections between Jeffrey Epstein and Harvard faculty, including physicist Lisa Randall.
accountLarry Summers' wife, New, told the Boston Globe that accepting a donation from Jeffrey Epstein in 2016 was regrettable and that she was unaware of Harvard's ban on gifts from him.
claimHarvard University rebuffed efforts by some faculty members to lift the ban on donations from Jeffrey Epstein in 2013.
quoteMark Tramo wrote in a message to an assistant of Jeffrey Epstein: 'I read the newspapers early this morning. Please remind him that boys from The Bronx (even if they end up at Harvard) have long memories, know all about cops, and stay true to their friends through thick and thin (no less peccadilloes).'
9 More Higher Ed Names in the Epstein Files insidehighered.com 7 facts
claimLisa Randall stated to The Crimson that Jeffrey Epstein was often in touch with the scientific community, many of whom were clients of John Brockman, and that Epstein was at Harvard on many occasions.
accountDocuments released in November revealed correspondence between Jeffrey Epstein and several prominent academic figures, including former Harvard president Larry Summers, former Harvard law professor Alan Dershowitz, and Massachusetts Institute of Technology professor emeritus Noam Chomsky.
claimLisa Randall, a Harvard University physics professor, exchanged messages with Jeffrey Epstein for years and flew on his private jet.
accountIn 2014, Marvin Minsky agreed to meet with Jeffrey Epstein at Harvard University in a correspondence with Epstein’s assistant, Lesley Groff.
accountLisa Randall, a Harvard physics professor, exchanged messages with Jeffrey Epstein for years and flew on his private jet.
accountIn 2014, Marvin Minsky agreed to meet with Jeffrey Epstein at Harvard University in a correspondence with Epstein's assistant, Lesley Groff.
claimNicholas Christakis contacted Jeffrey Epstein after moving from Harvard to Yale to arrange a meeting for the purpose of discussing funding for the Nicholas Christakis laboratory.
Why did Jeffrey Epstein cultivate famous scientists? scientificamerican.com 7 facts
accountSteven Pinker wrote a 2007 legal opinion regarding the semantics of a prostitution law as a favor for Harvard professor Alan Dershowitz, who was Jeffrey Epstein's lawyer, without knowing the opinion was intended for Epstein's legal defense.
claimHarvard University approved Jeffrey Epstein for a Visiting Fellow position twice, though a 2020 investigation noted he lacked the necessary qualifications.
accountJeffrey Epstein proposed in 2005 to be a Visiting Fellow at Harvard University, intending to study group behavior and “social prosthetic systems” using magnetic resonance imaging on human volunteers.
measurementAfter his 2008 conviction, Jeffrey Epstein visited Harvard's Program for Evolutionary Dynamics more than 40 times in 2018 and maintained an office at the program.
claimJeffrey Epstein served as a Visiting Fellow at Harvard University during the 2005–2006 academic year following a $200,000 donation to the university's psychology department.
measurementDonors introduced to Harvard scientists by Jeffrey Epstein gave $9.5 million to Harvard University following Epstein's 2008 conviction.
measurementBefore his 2008 conviction for soliciting minors for prostitution, Jeffrey Epstein donated more than $9 million to Harvard University, which included a $6.5 million gift to the Program for Evolutionary Dynamics led by mathematician Martin Nowak.
Harvard's Epstein Probe Widened harvardmagazine.com 7 facts
accountHarvard sanctioned professor of mathematics and biology Martin Nowak in 2021 for maintaining ties to Jeffrey Epstein after Epstein's 2008 Florida conviction for child prostitution, but the university lifted the sanction in 2023.
accountA 2020 Harvard investigation into Jeffrey Epstein's history as a donor found several instances where Epstein brokered major gifts to the University.
claimThe most recent cache of Jeffrey Epstein files released on January 30 mentions Harvard faculty members Lisa Randall (Baird professor of science), George Church (professor of genetics), and Andrew Strominger (York professor of physics).
claimHarvard University is expanding its ongoing investigation into connections between University affiliates and convicted child sex offender Jeffrey Epstein to include donors and faculty members.
accountHarvard University began an investigation into ties between University affiliates and Jeffrey Epstein in November 2023, following the release of emails by a U.S. House of Representatives committee.
claimNewly released U.S. Department of Justice documents revealed links between Jeffrey Epstein and Harvard donors Andrew Farkas, Leslie Wexner, and Gerald Chan.
accountOn November 18, 2023, Harvard University issued a statement announcing a review of information concerning individuals at Harvard included in newly released Jeffrey Epstein documents to evaluate potential actions.
'He was surrounded by smart people': academics in Epstein files timeshighereducation.com 6 facts
accountIn 2017, Martin Nowak asked Jeffrey Epstein if he could help facilitate the return of Larry Summers as Harvard University president after Drew Faust announced she was stepping down.
perspectiveJoanna Bryson, a professor at the Hertie School, stated that Harvard University, MIT, and Columbia University appear frequently in the Epstein files because Jeffrey Epstein was attracted to them as influential institutions.
accountStephen Greenblatt, a professor of the humanities at Harvard, corresponded with Jeffrey Epstein's former assistant, Lesley Groff, regarding a workshop that Jeffrey Epstein wanted to attend.
claimMartin Nowak, a professor of mathematics and biology at Harvard University, is the primary link between Jeffrey Epstein and Harvard University, appearing over 8,000 times in the Epstein files.
accountDepartment of Justice files indicate that in April 2014, Jeffrey Epstein had scheduled meetings with Andrew Strominger, a professor of physics, and Daniel Lieberman, a professor of biological sciences, at Harvard University.
claimLarry Summers, a former U.S. Treasury secretary and Harvard University president, was forced to take leave from Harvard University in 2023 due to his ties to Jeffrey Epstein.
Harvard's Epstein ties run deep, lead to Summers' resignation bostonglobe.com 5 facts
claimA 2019 Harvard University investigation determined that Jeffrey Epstein brokered a $2 million gift for George Church's research from a wealthy friend in 2014.
accountMartin Nowak, a Harvard professor, facilitated meetings and dinner parties for Jeffrey Epstein at his laboratory, where Epstein gathered a group of associates he referred to as "the boys."
claimCorina Tarnita stated she was introduced to Jeffrey Epstein while a graduate student at Harvard University and that her interactions with him ended when she began working at Princeton University.
claimMoshe Hoffman, a lecturer at Harvard University, declined to comment on his relationship with Jeffrey Epstein.
accountJeffrey Epstein met Harvard researcher Moshe Hoffman in Martin Nowak's lab in 2013.
Connections of Jeffrey Epstein - Wikipedia en.wikipedia.org 4 facts
measurementJeffrey Epstein donated $30 million to Harvard University to fund the Program for Evolutionary Dynamics, which was directed by his friend Martin Nowak.
measurementJeffrey Epstein pledged $30 million to support a Harvard researcher, as reported by The Associated Press on February 7, 2003.
claimIn 2008, following Jeffrey Epstein's first conviction, Harvard University president Drew Gilpin Faust declared that the university would no longer accept gifts from Epstein.
claimHarvard University permanently closed the Program for Evolutionary Dynamics in 2021 in response to revelations regarding Jeffrey Epstein's involvement with and support of the institute.
Who else is mentioned in Epstein's private files? - NPR npr.org 3 facts
claimFollowing the release of the Jeffrey Epstein emails in November 2025, Larry Summers resigned from the board of OpenAI and left his teaching position at Harvard University.
claimFormer Harvard University president and Treasury Secretary Larry Summers exchanged emails with Jeffrey Epstein that included requests for romantic advice and jokes regarding women's intelligence.
claimHarvard University announced it is conducting a probe into information concerning individuals at Harvard included in the newly released Jeffrey Epstein documents to evaluate what actions may be warranted.
Epstein's Deep Ties to Scientists Exposed in Nature Report nationaltoday.com 3 facts
claimJeffrey Epstein was deeply involved in the work conducted by the Program for Evolutionary Dynamics at Harvard University.
measurementMartin Nowak founded the Program for Evolutionary Dynamics at Harvard University using $6.5 million in funding provided by Jeffrey Epstein.
accountHarvard theoretical physicist Lisa Randall visited Jeffrey Epstein's private island in the Caribbean in 2014.
Fundraising in academia and the Epstein problem - STAT News statnews.com 2 facts
claimJeffrey Epstein made financial gifts to elite universities, including Harvard University and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, which were described as modest in size and impact.
claimJeffrey Epstein made financial gifts to elite universities, including Harvard University and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, which were described as modest in size and impact.
South African survivor of Jeffrey Epstein's abuse tells her story dailymaverick.co.za 1 fact
measurementJeffrey Epstein donated millions of dollars to Harvard University's Program for Evolutionary Dynamics and approximately $850,000 to the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
A List of People Facing Epstein Files Consequences businessinsider.com 1 fact
claimLarry Summers retired from his teaching job at Harvard University and his position on the board of OpenAI following the release of his emails with Jeffrey Epstein by the House Oversight Committee.
Epstein paid for a conference of top scientists in 2006. His motives ... npr.org 1 fact
claimIn a 2012 email, Jeffrey Epstein claimed to fund significant brain research and to have established an evolutionary dynamics institute at Harvard.
After Taking Jeffrey Epstein's Money, MIT And Harvard Reconsider ... wgbh.org 1 fact
measurementHarvard University received gifts totaling at least $9 million from Jeffrey Epstein between 1998 and 2007.
Who is in the Epstein files? - BBC bbc.com 1 fact
claimLarry Summers, former US Treasury Secretary and former Harvard University president, is mentioned in newly released documents regarding meetings and dinners with Jeffrey Epstein.
The Epstein Files | Not Even Wrong - Columbia Math Department math.columbia.edu 1 fact
claimHarvard University conducted an internal investigation in 2020 regarding Jeffrey Epstein's activities and connections to the university.
Professors in the Epstein files say they hoped friendship ... apnews.com 1 fact
measurementJeffrey Epstein donated more than $9 million to Harvard University, with the majority directed to a research facility established by Martin Nowak, a math and biology professor.
Epstein: A Forensic Reconstruction of the Transhumanist Research ... bryantmcgill.substack.com 1 fact
measurementJeffrey Epstein pledged $30 million to Harvard University's Program for Evolutionary Dynamics (PED) in 2003, of which $6.5 million was ultimately received.
Jeffrey Epstein scheduled meetings with Noam Chomsky, CIA ... globalnews.ca 1 fact
claimJeffrey Epstein's calendar listed several influential people, including Ariane de Rothschild (CEO of Edmond de Rothschild Group), Martin Nowak (Harvard University professor), Joshua Cooper Ramo (vice chairman and co-chief executive of Kissinger Associates), and anthropologist Helen Fisher.
What were Jeffrey Epstein's links to Israel? | Espionage News aljazeera.com 1 fact
claimAn FBI memo from October 2020 claimed Jeffrey Epstein maintained links to US and allied intelligence circles through his longtime lawyer, Harvard University law professor Alan Dershowitz.
Jeffrey Epstein papers shed light on how inner circle moved - NPR npr.org 1 fact
claimAlan Dershowitz, a Harvard law professor and attorney who represented Jeffrey Epstein, stated in an NPR interview that he was unaware of Epstein's predatory behavior.