Founder of Covid Vaccine Developer Moderna, Robert Langer, Defended MIT's Relationship/Funding From Jeffrey Epstein==
From 2019:
…
An online letter in Ito’s defense, which first appeared on Monday, described Ito as a “visionary director” and a person of integrity — and asked him explicitly not to resign his post. By Wednesday, more than 160 people from Ito’s social network in Cambridge and beyond had signed on.
The biomedical engineer Robert Langer was one of the letter’s early signatories. In an interview, Langer — who has a role in the Lab’s administration — cited work to help amputees and to attract more diverse fellows to campus from groups that might otherwise be underrepresented, among other Ito initiatives. “To me, the tremendously good things he’s done for MIT and for the world — so far outweigh the bad things,” Langer said.
Earlier this week, MIT president L. Rafael Reif shared his own apology and resolved to donate $800,000 — the total sum of Epstein's contributions to MIT — to an “appropriate charity.” Reif also announced a review of the Institute’s practices around private giving.
Langer said he supported that initiative, but noted that “there are people who are gonna complain about everything" when it comes to researchers receiving private contributions.He noted that at MIT, the recipients are typically "trying our best to help improve and save people’s lives.”
http://www.wbur.org/edify/2019/08/28/media-lab-director-epstein-gets-public-support
Last week, director Joi Ito publicly apologized for what he called an "error in judgment" for inviting Epstein to the Media Lab, and for accepting donations from Epstein's foundations to the lab, as well as investments in several of Ito's outside funds. Ito said he also visited several of Epstein's residences, although he said that he "was never involved in, never heard him talk about, and never saw any evidence of the horrific acts that he was accused of."
Epstein died earlier this month, in an apparent suicide in a New York jail. He was facing accusations of sex trafficking and abusing young girls. Epstein pleaded guilty in 2008 to charges of soliciting prostitution from a minor. Ito wrote that he met Epstein "through a trusted business friend" at a conference in 2013.
On Tuesday, Ethan Zuckerman, who leads the Center for Civic Media at MIT and teaches at the Media Lab, wrote on his website that the "scale of Joi's involvement" made it clear he had to move his work out of the Media Lab by the end of the academic year. His decision was first reported by The Boston Globe.
"The work my group does focuses on social justice and on the inclusion of marginalized individuals and points of view," Zuckerman wrote. "It’s hard to do that work with a straight face in a place that violated its own values so clearly in working with Epstein and in disguising that relationship."
Zuckerman also said that Ito asked him to meet Epstein in 2014, and Zuckerman refused "and urged [Ito] not to meet with him."
https://www.wbur.org/edify/2019/08/21/ethan-zuckerman-joi-ito-jeffrey-epstein
MIT Scientist Bob Langer Becomes A Billionaire Thanks To Moderna Stock Rally
https://www.forbes.com/sites/giacomotognini/2020/11/12/mit-scientist-bob-langer-becomes-a-billionaire-thanks-to-moderna-stock-rally/