Individual donors provide only a small slice of university research funding – but Jeffrey Epstein’s ties with academics show why screening matters

The recent release of Jeffrey Epstein's emails shows a wide net of contacts – including academics at prominent universities. Brendan Smialowski/AFP via Getty Images

Yale University, Columbia University and the University of California, Los Angeles are among the schools that have recently placed professors on leave, seen faculty resign or made other changes over faculty members’ ties to Jeffrey Epstein.

The University of Arizona, for example, canceled a science conference scheduled for April 2026, following the news that several speakers and organizers were named in the Epstein files. Astrobiologist Stuart Hameroff, for example, wrote on the social platform X on Feb. 6, 2026, that he “obtained one-time funding” for a conference from Epstein.