Nowak says he met with then-Mathematics Department Chair and current Dean of Undergraduate Education Benedict H. Gross ’71 last spring, who told Nowak that Harvard’s natural sciences would benefit from his presence at the University. Nowak was granted a tenured position at Harvard in August 2002, which he accepted.

Epstein’s donation soon followed.

Friends at Harvard say they know little about the logistics of Epstein’s multi-million dollar donation, but Rosovsky says discussions about the gift began last spring—around the same time as Nowak’s meeting with Gross—with a final decision coming in late January.

Nowak says Epstein has been sponsoring his research—to the tune of $500,000—since the two met about three years ago.

Since colleagues say Epstein is particularly interested in an interdisciplinary approach to science, he and Nowak seem to be a natural fit.

The source familiar with the donation also says that Harvard was the only institution to which Epstein would consider making a donation of this type.

“There isn’t a university that comes close to Harvard in so many different areas,” the source says. For Epstein, “there was not a choice between Harvard and another place; there isn’t another place that exists.”

Like Harrington, Nowak says Epstein’s munificence comes with no strings attached.

A University source confirms this, saying the donation “is a general gift with no provisions of any kind in the terms.”

Nowak says Epstein’s hands-off approach makes him an attractive scientific sponsor.

“He is one of the most pleasant philanthropists to deal with,” Nowak says. “Unlike many people who support science, he supports science without any conditions. There are not any disadvantages to associating with him.”

Although Nowak describes Epstein as a “friend,” the contact between the two is such that Nowak is unaware of exactly how it is that the financier is in a position to be so generous.

“He has a company. What exactly he does I don’t know,” he says.

The Making of a Mogul

When he is not globetrotting in search of investment opportunities, colleagues say Epstein spends his days managing the fortunes of his billionaire clients from his private island, Little St. James, in the U.S. Virgin Islands, but his life was not always so charmed.