Professor With Epstein Ties Still At Harvard
Nowak, a Harvard professor who remains on administrative leave, drew renewed scrutiny after the release of a 2014 email exchange with convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein. In the email, Nowak referred cryptically to a “captured spy,” while Epstein responded with a reference to “torture.” Nowak has since said the exchange was harmless and that his […]
Nowak, a Harvard professor who remains on administrative leave, drew renewed scrutiny after the release of a 2014 email exchange with convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein. In the email, Nowak referred cryptically to a “captured spy,” while Epstein responded with a reference to “torture.” Nowak has since said the exchange was harmless and that his message was inspired by the computer game Civilization II.
Epstein had unusually deep ties to Nowak’s Program for Evolutionary Dynamics, or PED, which operated near Harvard Yard. He maintained an office there and, in one email released last fall, described the program as “my istittue at harvard.”
As another school year approaches, Harvard is still facing questions about the extent of Epstein’s relationships with people connected to the university. Some of those who helped give Epstein access to prestigious academic circles remained in influential positions long after his 2008 conviction.
The Faculty of Arts and Sciences confirmed to the Daily Caller News Foundation that Nowak is still on administrative leave. It did not answer questions about the status of a formal inquiry launched nearly six months ago.
Harvard shut down the PED in 2021 and transferred its research to the Mathematics Department. Two years later, the university restored Nowak’s advising and research privileges, according to the Harvard Crimson. In February 2026, Harvard placed him on administrative leave after the Department of Justice released roughly three million records related to Epstein, including the 2014 email exchange.
In a statement posted to his website, Nowak said his reference to a captured spy came directly from Civilization II.
“Some have missed that ‘Our spy was captured after completing her mission’ is a line from a computer game called Civilization II, a game I played many years ago,” Nowak wrote. He said the phrase stayed with him over the years and would occasionally come to mind after he solved a small mathematical problem.
As for Epstein’s reply, Nowak said he could not explain it.
“I have no idea what triggered Epstein’s response,” he wrote. “The email exchange did not refer to an actual spy, nobody got captured, nobody was on a mission, and nobody was tortured.”