Harvard math professor Martin Nowak — once dubbed Jeffrey Epstein’s “inside man” at the university — has been put on leave after college bosses learned “new information” about his links to the convicted pedophile.
University bosses’ bombshell decision comes after ex-Harvard president Larry Summers, also scrutinized over his relationship with the financier, announced his resignation.
Nowak, who was gifted $6.5 million by Epstein to create the now closed-down Program for Evolutionary Dynamics (PED), will be the subject of a fresh probe investigating whether he breached the university’s conduct policies, according to a letter first revealed by the Harvard Crimson on Wednesday.
Arrangements are being made to reduce any potential disruption, Hopi Hoekstra, the Edgerley Family Dean of the Faculty of Arts and Sciences, said in the note.
Nowak’s links to Epstein are well-documented.
The ex-Wall Street financier visited PED offices at least 40 times between 2010 and 2018.
Nowak gave Epstein “unlimited access” to school grounds, supplied a keycard, and a passcode, according to a 2020 review carried out by the university.
Damning Department of Justice-released emails revealed Nowak’s plans to visit Epstein’s infamous island.
One such correspondence from 2012 featured JetBlue flight arrangements between Boston and St. Thomas.
An email from February 2014 contained the subject: “Does JE want Martin Nowak to visit him on the island March 1?”
Nowak has denied having any knowledge of Epstein’s crimes.
And, in May 2019, he desperately tried to distance himself from Epstein. The academic asked Epstein’s associate: “The sooner the better please. Things are getting very strange here.”
That was just three months before Epstein was charged with sex trafficking of minors.
Summers, 71, will resign from his professorship this summer – describing the decision as “difficult.”
His reputation has been shredded over what has emerged following the mass dump of DOJ files.
Summers and his wife, Elisa F. New, reportedly enjoyed their honeymoon on Epstein’s private island – and they flew on his infamous “Lolita Express” jet.
Also on board the flight was Epstein’s madam, Ghislaine Maxwell.
“Mr. Summers and Ms. New spent their honeymoon in St. John and Jamaica in December 2005, which was long before Mr. Epstein was arrested for the first time,” a spokesperson for Summers told the Crimson last November.
The spokesperson stressed that Summers and his wife were on Epstein’s island “for less than a day.”
Summers and Epstein also spoke about women, fundraising and politics in communications that have since been released.