US News

Harvard punishes professor Martin Nowak over Jeffrey Epstein ties

Harvard University moved to officially sanction a professor over his close ties to Jeffrey Epstein.

Martin Nowak, a math professor, will be barred from starting new research projects and will have sharply reduced access to undergraduate and post-doctoral students for at least two years, according to a memo sent to students and faculty by Harvard Dean Claudine Gay.

Nowak’s Program for Evolutionary Dynamics — which previously accepted $6.5 million in Epstein cash — will be shut down, Harvard Magazine reported.

“Operating in a manner consistent with our policies, norms, and standards is one of the fundamental obligations we must each fulfill as members of the Faculty,” Gay wrote, adding that Novak’s punishment was “proportionate to the severity of the behavior observed.”

Nowak has been on paid leave at the university after a May 2020 review found that he had inappropriately given Epstein “unlimited access” to school grounds and even an office on campus, complete with his own keycard and passcode.

The carte blanche access to one of America’s most prestigious universities came after Epstein’s 2008 conviction for sex crimes in Florida.

Martin Nowak will be barred from starting new research projects.
Martin Nowak will be barred from starting new research projects. Edge Foundation

“While I have always been grateful to anyone who would support my research, I regret the connection I was part of fostering between Harvard and Jeffrey Epstein and the hurt that it has caused,” Nowak said in a statement reported by ABC News. “I will take the lessons from this time with me as I move forward.”