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

A small portion of university research funding comes from individual donors. Most universities have policies in place to protect against wrongdoing.

By: Brian Herman, University of Minnesota, The Conversation

Outlets: The Conversation

Published: February 20, 2026

Words: 1,213

Last Updated: 1 day, 3 hours ago

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By Brian Herman, University of Minnesota

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 …

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