Harvard maths professor with close ties to Jeffrey Epstein has been barred from advising students for two years

A Harvard University professor who had close ties with Jeffrey Epstein has been barred from starting new research or advising students for at least the next two years.

Martin Nowak, who has also been accused of giving Epstein an office on campus, will be allowed to continue teaching over the next two years, but his contact with students will be limited.

The announcement was made by Claudine Gay, dean of Harvard’s Faculty of Arts and Sciences, in a memo on Friday that was obtained by the Associated Press.

Epstein, who had a previous conviction of procuring a child for prostitution and of soliciting a prostitute, was found dead in a prison cell in August 2019, while awaiting trial for sex trafficking of minors. He had pleaded not guilty to the charges.

In May 2020, Mr Nowak, a maths professor, was placed on paid leave after a further review from the university found that he gave Epstein “unrestricted” access to Harvard’s campus.

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The review found that the professor gave Epstein a key card and an office in Mr Nowak’s campus research centre, with him even visiting more than 40 times after his 2008 convictions.

Although Epstein did not have any formal affiliation with Harvard, a page on Mr Nowak’s centre’s website was dedicated to the disgraced financier, including links to his websites.

Ms Gay revealed that the further actions brought against the professor on Friday were made because a further report found that he violated several other policies of professional conduct.

The dean said that Mr Nowak’s centre will be closed down “as soon as it is feasible,” and claimed that the punishment is “proportionate to the severity of the behaviour”.

Following the memo, Mr Nowak released a statement to the AP saying that he is “humbled to be able to return to my work at Harvard and immerse myself once again in this most remarkable of academic communities”.

“While I have always been grateful to anyone who would support my research, I regret the connection I was part of fostering between Harvard and Jeffrey Epstein and the hurt that it has caused,” Mr Nowak continued. “I will take the lessons from this time with me as I move forward,” he added.

One of Mr Nowak’s lawyers, Ellen Zucker, told the AP that her client is pleased to be able to go back to teaching.

However, she added that it is “a tired truth of organisational dynamics that individuals, and not institutions, are too often left alone to take responsibility when things go wrong”.

Harvard received more than $9m (£6.5m) from Epstein in the 10 years leading up to his conviction, but a majority of it had been spent by 2019. The university has donated the remaining $200,000 (£145,000) to groups that support victims of sexual assault.

The Independent has contacted Harvard University and Mr Nowak for additional comment.