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Joi Ito, the embattled director of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology's Media Lab resigned Saturday, just hours after The New Yorker published emails showing how he had attempted to conceal donations from the late sex offender and financier Jeffrey Epstein. Ito had previously apologized for accepting money from Epstein for the lab and for his own personal ventures. But the newly disclosed emails show he didn't just make the wrong call in accepting the money, as he explained to lab members as recently as Wednesday: he also ordered that Epstein's donations be listed as "anonymous" going back years, as Epstein had been disqualified as a donor following his 2008 conviction for soliciting sex from a minor (he was facing additional charges before his death this summer).
The New York Times reported that Ito also left the boards of the MacArthur Foundation, the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation and The New York Times Company, as well as a visiting professorship at Harvard University. "After giving the matter a great deal of thought over the past several days and weeks, I think that it is best that I resign as director of the media lab and as a professor and employee of the institute, effective immediately," Ito wrote in an email to MIT's provost, Martin A. Schmidt. The institute has announced an independent investigation into the matter. One of Ito's emails reportedly says that Epstein directed a $2 million gift to the lab from the philanthropist Bill Gates, but the Gates Foundation has denied any business connection to Epstein.
Brown University announced that it has placed Peter Cohen, director of development for computer science and data initiatives, on administrative leave, The Providence Journal reported. Cohen worked at the Media Lab before coming to Brown. “We are aware of the content of recent news reports about Mr. Cohen’s work at MIT’s Media Lab, which received funds from Jeffrey Epstein. Brown has not in its history received any funds from Jeffrey Epstein,” Clark wrote to the Journal in an email Sunday evening. “We are engaged in a review of available information regarding Mr. Cohen in the context of Brown University policies, core values and the university’s commitment to treat employees fairly. Mr. Cohen is on administrative leave pending this review. The review does not constitute any adverse determination, and it would be premature to speak to any potential outcomes.”
