Overview
- Harvard placed mathematics professor Martin Nowak on paid administrative leave while the Faculty of Arts and Sciences conducts a formal misconduct investigation.
- A panel of the FAS Faculty Conduct Committee recommended the inquiry after Harvard reviewed newly released Department of Justice records under the Epstein Files Transparency Act.
- Dean Hopi E. Hoekstra said the process will follow FAS procedures that include notice of allegations, opportunities for response, and a final determination by the Faculty Conduct Committee.
- The Crimson’s review of DOJ materials reports Nowak contacted Jeffrey Epstein at least 150 times after 2008 and helped arrange meetings, while Harvard’s 2020 report detailed Epstein’s campus visits and office access tied to Nowak’s program.
- Nowak was sanctioned in 2021 for facilitating Epstein’s presence at Harvard and had those penalties lifted in 2023, and on the same day as the new probe was announced, former president Lawrence H. Summers said he will retire from his faculty role.