The head of a Columbia University institute resigned from his position due to his connections to Jeffrey Epstein. Richard Axel, co-director of the Zuckerman Mind Brain Behavior Institute and Nobel Prize winner, will no longer serve at the institute, but will instead focus on teaching in his lab. He will also resign from his position as an investigator at the university’s Howard Hughes Medical Institute.
Axel won the Nobel Prize in 2004 for discovering nose receptors that send information to the brain in the olfactory system.
In a statement, Axel said his association with Epstein was a “serious error in judgment.”
“I apologize for compromising the trust of my friends, students, and colleagues. I recognize the problems this has caused, and I will work to restore this trust. What has emerged about Epstein’s appalling conduct, the harm that he has caused to so many people, makes my association with him all the more painful and inexcusable,” he said.
Columbia University noted that it has seen “no evidence” that Axel violated university policy or the law.
“However, Dr. Axel made clear that in light of this past association, and the continued fallout from the release of DOJ files, he felt it appropriate to relinquish his position as co-director,” the university stated. “The University agrees with this decision, while at the same time recognizing his extraordinary contributions to the University and his dedication to his colleagues, to his students, and to science.”
Axel’s resignation marks another high-profile departure from those linked to Epstein. Executive chairman of Hyatt Hotels Corporation and the cousin of Illinois Governor J.B. Pritzker, Thomas Pritzker, recently stepped down from his position due to his affiliation with Epstein. Similarly, a leading lawyer for Goldman Sachs and former White House counsel during the Obama administration, Kathryn Ruemmler, resigned from her position after emails exposed her connection to Epstein.
