Harvard University cut off donations from Epstein

In 2008, Harvard University quietly decided it would refuse future donations from a generous benefactor, Jeffrey Epstein.

 
Over the previous decade, Epstein had donated $9.1 million to the university. But that June, the disgraced financier was convicted of soliciting prostitution, including from a minor, leading Harvard to try to shut down the money it took from him. 

Yet six years on, Epstein was still finding ways to channel his wealth towards some of Harvard's 

world-renowned scientists, including those doing pioneering work in genetics, a field that held longtime personal interest for Epstein. 

His plans included setting up an investment company that would ostensibly be run by a famed Harvard biologist but with Epstein controlling the money, emails released by the Justice Department show - a setup that has not been previously reported. 

Emails and public records indicate that Epstein set up this company with George Church, a famed innovator of genetics research who still runs a key department at Harvard's Wyss Institute for Biologically Inspired Engineering. Church has co-founded at least 50 biotechnology companies - and is known for his long-running efforts to use gene editing to resurrect the woolly mammoth. 

Epstein gave money to a number of prestigious universities, including Columbia, which this month removed two faculty members over their ties to the convicted sex offender. 

Epstein also cultivated ties with academics at elite institutions, and at Harvard, he focused much of his financial largesse on its scientific faculty, where his relationship with two professors - Church and biologist Martin Nowak - went much deeper. 

Previously unreleased photos appear to show the two men visited Epstein's infamous private island, and Epstein sought to funnel money towards their research priorities years after Harvard leadership said it severed ties with the disgraced financier. 

A 2020 investigation by Harvard revealed that Epstein helped Nowak raise funds to maintain a prestigious office space in Harvard Square.