Epstein's shadow in Iasi. Withdrawal of the Doctor Honoris Causa title awarded to a Harvard professor, requested by several NGOs
On Wednesday, several civic organizations asked the management of the “Alexandru Ioan Cuza” University in Iași to withdraw the honorary title awarded in 2010 to university professor Martin Andreas Nowak, mathematician and biologist at Harvard University, mentioned thousands of times in the Jeffrey Epstein files.
The “In the Street” Civic Initiative Group, Corruption Kills, Romania Initiative, Reset, Craiova Civic Activism, Galaţi Civic Resistance and Timişoara Free Youth Civic Association submitted a letter addressed to the rector of the University, Liviu-George Maha, the Executive Office of the Board of Directors and the institution's Senate.
The civic organizations requested the initiation of the procedure for withdrawing the title, the adoption of a decision by the University Senate regarding its withdrawal, its public communication with explicit motivation and the position of the UAIC Iasi regarding the involvement of the institution in the Epstein files.
Also, the organizations requested an official position of the university in case the University Senate decides to maintain the honorary title.
Civic associations say that, according to documents released by the US Department of Justice (DOJ), Professor Nowak was mentioned more than 4,000 times in the Epstein files.
What civic organizations say
According to the NGOs, in November 2009, seven months before the “Alexandru Ioan Cuza” University in Iaşi conferred the title of Doctor Honoris Causa, Jeffrey Epstein's assistant, Lesley Groff asked Martin Andreas Nowak “the name of the university in Romania where you took the people from”.
“The answer, provided by his doctoral student, Corina Tarniță (currently a professor at Princeton University), explicitly mentioned that the two young women are from the University of Iaşi. The relationship between Nowak and Epstein, convicted in 2008 for prostitution of a minor and arrested again in 2019 for sex trafficking of minors, began in 2003, when Epstein donated 6.5 million dollars to Harvard University to establish the laboratory Program for “Evolutionary Dynamics (PED), founded and led by Nowak, accounted for most of the 9.1 million donated to Harvard University during that period. Epstein had a personal office in the lab and used it at least 40 times after his conviction, accompanied by young women who served as his assistants, according to a 2020 internal Harvard report.”
The 7 civic associations also say that the “Alexandru Ioan Cuza” University in Iaşi specified, at their request, that there was no institutional collaboration with the Program for Evolutionary Dynamics from Harvard in the period 2008-2012.
“However, Professor Corina Tarniţă stated publicly for The Daily Princetonian that it was during that period that her program “began to develop a scientific collaboration” with the University of Iaşi, including a visit by a group from Harvard. To the request regarding sponsorships from that period, UAIC Iaşi replied that it could not have received sponsorships from an “anonymous donor”, be it a natural or legal person”, the civic associations also claim.
Martin Nowak, mentioned thousands of times in the Epstein files
Nowak was placed on administrative leave earlier this year by Harvard University, which is conducting a disciplinary investigation into his ties to Epstein.
According to the Crimson, Harvard University's official student newspaper, Nowak is being targeted for the second time by the measure.
Nowak was first suspended in 2021 by the dean of the Faculty of Arts and Sciences, according to sources, based on the findings of a 2020 Harvard University report detailing the university's ties to Epstein. The second investigation is based on “new information that came to light during the review of documents released by the US Department of Justice regarding Jeffrey Epstein.” Nowak's name appears more than 8,000 times in those files, Harvard Magazine notes.
