The Jeffrey Epstein VI Foundation was a private foundation established in 2000 by New York convicted sex offender and financier

Jeffrey Epstein Jeffrey Edward Epstein ( ; January 20, 1953August 10, 2019) was an American sex offender and financier. Epstein, who was born and raised in Brooklyn, New York City, began his professional life by teaching at the Dalton School in Manhattan, des ...

. Officially registered as J. Epstein VI Foundation, the "VI" stands for

Virgin Islands The Virgin Islands ( es, Islas Vírgenes) are an archipelago in the Caribbean Sea. They are geologically and biogeographically the easternmost part of the Greater Antilles, the northern islands belonging to the Puerto Rico Trench and St. Cro ...

, where the foundation was based and Epstein owned a private island. The foundation's board included Cecile de Jongh, wife of the former governor of the United States Virgin Islands,

John de Jongh John Percy de Jongh Jr. (born November 13, 1957) is an American businessman and politician who served as the Governor of the United States Virgin Islands from 2007 to 2015. He has been active in Virgin Islands politics and the business community ...

Activity

In 2003, the foundation pledged $30 million to

Harvard University Harvard University is a private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1636 as Harvard College and named for its first benefactor, the Puritan clergyman John Harvard, it is the oldest institution of highe ...

''The Harvard Crimson'', June 5, 2003, "People in the News: Jeffrey E. Epstein

/ref> to establish the Program for Evolutionary Dynamics, directed by

Martin Nowak Martin Andreas Nowak (born April 7, 1965) is an Austrian-born professor of mathematical biology, at Harvard University since 2003. He is one of the leading researchers in the field that studies the role of cooperation in evolution. Nowak has hel ...

, a professor of mathematics and biology. The university received only $6.5 million of this pledge. The foundation also supported NEURO.tv, a video series featuring experts discussing topics related to the brain, and the

OpenCog OpenCog is a project that aims to build an open source artificial intelligence framework. OpenCog Prime is an architecture for robot and virtual embodied cognition that defines a set of interacting components designed to give rise to human-equiv ...

project, an open-source software initiative for

Artificial intelligence Artificial intelligence (AI) is intelligence—perceiving, synthesizing, and inferring information—demonstrated by machines, as opposed to intelligence displayed by animals and humans. Example tasks in which this is done include speech ...

. From 2005-2007, the foundation funded the work of geneticist George Church for “cutting edge science & education." Over the years, the foundation convened many of these scientists in conferences to discuss the consensus on fundamental science topics such as gravity, global threats to the Earth and language.''National Review Online'', July 10, 2013, "Evolution at Harvard: How Financier Jeffrey Epstein Changed the Course of Evolutionary Studies at Harvard University

/ref> As a representative of the foundation, Epstein sat on the Mind, Brain and Behavior Advisory Committee at

, and been involved in the

Santa Fe Institute The Santa Fe Institute (SFI) is an independent, nonprofit theoretical research institute located in Santa Fe, New Mexico, United States and dedicated to the multidisciplinary study of the fundamental principles of complex adaptive systems, inclu ...

, the Theoretical Biology Initiative at the

Institute for Advanced Study The Institute for Advanced Study (IAS), located in Princeton, New Jersey, in the United States, is an independent center for theoretical research and intellectual inquiry. It has served as the academic home of internationally preeminent schola ...

Princeton Princeton University is a private research university in Princeton, New Jersey. Founded in 1746 in Elizabeth as the College of New Jersey, Princeton is the fourth-oldest institution of higher education in the United States and one of the nin ...

, and the Quantum Gravity Program at the

University of Pennsylvania The University of Pennsylvania (also known as Penn or UPenn) is a Private university, private research university in Philadelphia. It is the fourth-oldest institution of higher education in the United States and is ranked among the highest- ...

. Epstein also served on the

Trilateral Commission The Trilateral Commission is a nongovernmental international organization aimed at fostering closer cooperation between Japan, Western Europe and North America. It was founded in July 1973 principally by American banker and philanthropist David ...

and the

Council on Foreign Relations The Council on Foreign Relations (CFR) is an American think tank specializing in U.S. foreign policy and international relations. Founded in 1921, it is a nonprofit organization that is independent and nonpartisan. CFR is based in New York Ci ...

References

External links

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The Program for Evolutionary Dynamics
{{Jeffrey Epstein sex trafficking scandal Scientific research foundations in the United States 2000 establishments in the United States Foundation