[If you are a graduate of Brown University programs in Applied Mathematics, Biostatistics, Computer Science, or Mathematics or a member of related disciplines and industries and want to sign this letter, please use this form to do so.]
Christina Paxson President Jeffrey Hoffstein Professor and Chair of Mathematics
Professor and Chair of Applied Mathematics | Sergio Gonzalez Senior Vice President for Advancement Ugur Cetintemel Professor and Chair of Computer Science Christopher Schmid, PhD Professor and Chair of Biostatistics |
Dear President Paxson, Mr. Gonzalez, and Professors Cetintemel, Guo, Hoffstein, and Schmid,
In light of recent New Yorker reporting on the significant connections between MIT Media Lab and convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, we the undersigned are writing to call for accountability and action from Brown University regarding former Media Lab development director and current Brown University administrator Peter Cohen AM'90 PhD'96, and transparency into how this episode will inform Brown’s future fundraising strategy.
The recent New Yorker story calls particular attention to the work that Cohen did to perpetuate and hide Epstein’s extensive funding relationship with the MIT Media Lab. Cohen’s acts of explicit obfuscation in 2014 and 2015 took place despite Epstein’s 2008 conviction of procurement of a minor for prostitution. Cohen actively solicited money from Epstein in spite of this public knowledge and against MIT’s official listing of Epstein as “disqualified” in their donor database. Citing email evidence and interviews with Media Lab staff, the article shows that Cohen repeatedly coordinated contact between Epstein and the rest of the Media Lab, including directing Epstein to mark a one hundred thousand dollar gift as anonymous and working with Epstein to raise over $7.5 million in funds by soliciting donations from Epstein’s contacts, including Bill Gates. Whistleblowers also state that Cohen specifically instructed staff to keep dissenting faculty out-of-sight during Epstein’s 2015 in-person MIT lab visit.
The New York Times reports that Cohen is now Director of Development for Computer and Data Science at Brown University. Peter Cohen appears on the official Brown University directory as “Director of Development for Academic Initiatives”, and is given as a contact for several University press releases, including an article about the Computer Science department’s “CS With Impact” campaign and a fundraising website for the “Data Science Initiative,” which coordinates efforts from Applied Mathematics, Biostatistics, Computer Science, and Mathematics. The Brown Daily Herald reported on September 9 that Peter Cohen has been placed on leave, and we hope that the University will approach their investigation with intention and care. We focus our concern now on encouraging Brown University to terminate Cohen’s employment and specify exactly what his role has been within the university.
We stand in solidarity with the young women harmed by Epstein and his associates, and believe it is crucial to center the victims in our discussion of the larger impact of this situation. We also commend those MIT Media Lab students, faculty, and staff who have questioned the judgement of their lab’s leadership — particularly those who attempted to pursuade the organization to terminate their working relationship with a man who stands accused of orchestrating a major child sex trafficking ring for wealthy and influential people.
Particularly, we also question the judgement of Brown University leadership in hiring Peter Cohen, who over his career at MIT repeatedly demonstrated a willingness to work with Epstein as a mechanism to fund the work of the Media Lab.
And, at a larger level, we must consider the structural implications that allowed Epstein’s connections to gain so much power at MIT. We do not believe that academic research institutions should be developed in service of the global economic elite. The University must do all in its power to prevent the whims of capital from exerting control over its research activities.
It’s noteworthy that this comes the same week the Brown Daily Herald reported on the Department’s plans to hire “ethics teaching assistants”. We commend the department for its intention to foster critical thinking among its students, and encourage current students to continue to consider the ethical implications of the technology they build. (An institution which continues to build a program reliant on underpaid undergraduate labor has its own issues, which we encourage current students and faculty to organize around.)
But we worry about the future of a department that asks its undergraduates to consider the ethics of the algorithms they design, and yet is unwilling to reckon with the ethics of its own relationship to wealth and power.
Accordingly, we call for the following:
We believe that vibrant community engagement from our students and alumni is at the core of our Brown experience — and we are stating publicly as members of that community that this situation puts our future engagement with University programs in jeopardy.
We expect that the right path will evolve as students and faculty begin to speak up on these issues, and believe that present members of the Brown community should lead the way on that effort. Communication and accountability regarding Peter Cohen’s role at Brown is a first step in a long process that we urge the University to engage in going forward.
Sincerely,
Graduates of Brown University programs in Applied Mathematics, Biostatistics, Computer Science, and Mathematics, and members of related disciplines or industries.
Aaron Beller
M.S. Computer Science, 2018
Abigail Sessions
Sc.B. Computer Science, 2016
Alberta Devor
A.B. Computer Science, 2019
Aleksandra Culver
Sc.B. Computer Science, 2008
Senior Site Reliability Engineer, Google
Former HTA/UTA
Alex Treil
Sc. B. Computer Science, 2016
Software Engineer, Google
Alexa VanHattum
Sc.B. Computer Science, 2016
PhD Student, Cornell University
Alexander Hadik
Sc B Computational Biology, 2015
UTA/HTA 2013-2015
Alon Sacks
A.B. Business, Entrepreneurship and Organizations (BEO)
I led the entrepreneurship program while at Brown and mentored student entrepreneurs - many of whom studied CS at Brown. For the protection of our students and values, as well as the broader community, please take action.
Amandeep Boyer, née Gill
Sc.B. Physics, 2009
Software Engineer, Google
Amy Miao
BS.c. Applied Mathematics-Economics
Aniran Chandravongsri
Sc.B. Applied Mathematics, 2014
Ardra Hren
A.B. in Computer Science, 2015
Cruise
Former TA/HTA
Bessie Jiang
Sc.B. Computer Science, 2019; Sc.M. Computer Science, 2019
Betty Peng
A.B. Computer Science, 2017
Software Engineer, Google
Former TA CS015
Brad Burns
A.B. COE, 2013
Architect, Google
Volunteer Admissions Interviewer
Bruce Nguyen
Sc.B. CS-ECON 2017
Chantal Toupin
A.B. Computer Science, 2019
Christopher Chen
Sc. B Computer Science , 2018.5
Danaë Metaxa
BA Computer Science, BA Science & Society, 2015
PhD Candidate in Computer Science, Stanford University
Daniel Xiang
B Sc. Applied Mathematics, 2017
PhD Student, University of Chicago
David Eisenstat
PhD Computer Science, 2014
David Sasson
A.B. Computer Science, 2016, M.Sc. Computer Science, 2017
Devanshi Nishar
Sc.B. Computer Science, 2018
Former HTA [CS16], UTA [CS15, CS16, CS1410]
Dominique Moore
A.B. Computer Science, 2019
Dylan Gattey
B. S. Computer science, 2016
Eddie Grystar
BA Computer Science, 2014
Software Engineer, Google
Eli Sharf
B.A Computer Science, 2016
Elizabeth Zorn
Sc.B. Computer Science, 2016
Former UTA CSCI0150, CS0160, HTA CSCI1570, CSCI1951A
Emily Li
Sc.B. Computer Engineering, 2018
Emily Magavern
A.B. Computer Science, 2018
Software Engineer, Google LLC
Emily Metcalfe
Sc.B. Computer Engineering, 2003
Security Engineer, Google
Emily Wu
Sc.B. Computer Science, 2016
Software Engineer, Google LLC
Eric Caruso
Sc. B. Computer Science, 2014
Software Engineer, Google
MTA 2013-14
Francesca Lim
ScB Applied Mathematics-Biology, 2018; ScM Data Science, 2019
Frank Goodman
Sc.B. Computer Science
Hannah Rosen
Sc.B. Computer Science, 2013
Harold Triedman
Sc.B. Computer Science and A.B. History 2020.5
Harsha Yeddanapudy
Sc.B. Computer Science, 2017
Hayley Flug
A.B. Political Science, 2017
Legal Assistant, Google LLC
Helen Cho
A.B. Computer Science, Psychology, 2020
Helen Denisenko
Sc.Bc Computer Science, 2018
Ilya Raskin
Sc.B. Applied Mathematics - Economics, 2014
Software Engineer, Google
Isaac C Berkowitz
ScB Computational Biology, 2015
Isabella Norvig
A.B. Computer Science, 2016
Ishan Sinha
Sc.B. Applied Mathematics, 2016
Jacob Eakle
M.S. Computer Science 2012
Senior Software Engineer, Nasuni
Was an active member of the CS UTA program for three years.
Jadrian Miles
PhD Computer Science, 2015
Software engineer, Google
Jake Saferstein
Sc. B. Engineering, 2019
Jake Small
BA computer science 2017
Software Engineer, Google
James Laskey
A.B. Computer Science, 2016
Jason Hu
A.B. Computer Science, 2015
Software Engineer, Good Eggs
UTA for CS0150 and CS1410
Joanna Price
A.B. Commerce, Organizations & Entrepreneurship, 2012
Jonathan Lister
Sc.M. Computer Science '19, Sc.B. Computer Science '18
CS1760 HTA Fall '18, CS1670 UTA Spring '18, CS33 HTA/UTA Fall '17/16
Joshua Brown
ScB Mathematics and Computer Science, 2012. ScM Computer Science, 2013.
Kate Brennan
B.A. Modern Culture and Media
Kate Storey-Fisher
Sc.B. Physics, 2016
Former UTA [CS15]
Kavi Duvvoori
Sc.B Mathematics, 2017
MFA Digital Arts and New Media, UC Santa Cruz, 2019
Kei Nakagawa
ScB Computer Science & Psychology
Software Engineer, Google
Former TA/HTA
Lilia Royanova
A.B. International Relations and Economics, 2011
UX Program Manager, Google
Lu Zeng
Sc. B. Mathematics - Computer Science, 2012
SRE, Google
Lucy Wei
Sc.B. Computer Science, 2019
Software Engineer, Google
Maggie Benthall
A.B. Computer Science, 2004
Software Engineer, Verily
Former TA
Mandi Cai
SC.B. Cognitive Neuroscience, 2017
Marianne Aubin Le Quere
B.Sc. Computer Science, 2017
Mark Wachsler
A.B. Cognitive Science, 1987; Sc.M. Computer Science, 1987
Former UTA & HTA CS141
Mason DiMarco
Sc.B. Computer Science 2016
Software Engineer, Google
Max Fuller
Sc.B. Computer Science and Mathematics
Max Ladow
Sc.B. Neuroscience, 2015
Graduate Student, UCSF
Max Lahn
Sc. B. Mathematic, 2019
PhD candidate, University of Michigan
Max Luzuriaga
Sc.Bc. Computer Science, 2019
Mike Perkowitz
Sc.B. Cognitive Science, 1993
Software Engineer, Google
Minsoo Thigpen
A.B. Applied Mathematics, 2018
Program Manager, Microsoft
Miraj G Shah
Sc.B. Computer Science, Economics 2015.5
Software Engineer, Google
Miranda Chao
Sc.B. Computer Science, 2018
Program Manager, Microsoft
Nathan Partlan
Sc.B. Computer Science, 2012
Nathaniel Weir
Sc.B. Applied Mathematics Applied Mathematics - Computer Science, 2019
PhD Student, Johns Hopkins University
Neil Chandra
Sc.B. Applied Mathematics - Computer Science, 2018
Neilly Tan
Sc.B. Cognitive Science, 2018.5
Ph.D. Student, University of Washington
Former Brown CS HTA/TA
Nia Sanders
A.B. Computer Science, A.B. TAPS, 2019
Nicholas Pucel
A.B. Computer Science 2017
Nicholas Tomlin
A.B. Mathematics, 2019
PhD Student, UC Berkeley
Nick Byman
Sc.B. Computer Science, 2019
Nick Danford
A.B., Political Economy & Development, 2011
Agency Development Manager, Google
President, Resumed Undergraduate Student Assoc., '09 - '11
Nina Cruz
A.B. Literary Arts, 2008
Program Lead, Google Cloud Customer Communications
1764 Society member
Paige Stoermer
Computer Science A.B. 2019
Pat Maiden
Sc.B Computer Science, 2015
Patrick Clay
Sc.B. Mathematics - Computer Science 2013
Pete Gilligan
A.B. Literatures and Cultures in English, 2009
Product Strategy & Operations, Google
Petek Unsal
Executive Master in Cybersecurity
Philip Strauss
A.B. Computer Science, 2019
Former UTA CSCI0150, CS1570
Rachel Murai
Sc.B. Computer Engineering, 2017
Software Engineer, Google
Rahul Kuchibhatla
Sc.B. Applied Mathematics - Computer Science, 2016
Robert MacDonald
ScB Electrical Engineering, 1989; PhD Physics, 1993
Rod Hasbun
Sc.B. Computer Science 2015
Sam Heft-Luthy
A.B. Computer Science, 2016; A.B. Literary Arts, 2016
Product Manager, Google
Former UTA CSCI004, CSCI0150, CS0160
Samantha Mayfield
Sc.B. Computer Science, 2018
Samuel Brebner
Sc.B. Computer Science, 2016
Sara Hartse
ScB Computer Science 2017
Sawyer Thompson
A.B. Computer Science, 2019
Software Engineer, Google
Former UTA CSCI0150, CSCI0160, CSCI0320
Sophia Hsiao
Sc.B. Computer Science, 2018
Sreyashi Sharmin
Sc.B. Mathematics, 2019
Steven Gomez
Ph.D Computer Science, 2016
Susan Goldblatt
A.B. Computer Science 2014
Susan Ye
ScB Mathematics 2018.5
PhD Student, Boston University
Taro Shima
Sc.Bc. Mathematics, 2019
Taylor De Rosa
Sc.B. Computer Science, 2016
Todd Allan Shortlidge
Sc.B. Computer Science, 2009
Senior Software Engineer, Apple
Vinh Tran
Sc.B. Computer Science, 2016
Software Engineer, Google
Former UTA CSCI0320, CSCI0330, CSCI1951A
Wendy Ginsberg
A.B. Computer Science, 2015
UTA CSCI0080, CSCI0150 2x, CSCI1951A
Younhun Kim
Sc.B. Mathmatics-Computer Science, 2016
Ph.D. Student, MIT
(More signatures to be appended as they are received)