Perimeter Institute to 'undertake careful review of situation' and 'address matter accordingly'
A prominent Canadian physicist has temporarily withdrawn from his role at a renowned research institute in Ontario after allegations of long-running ties to convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.
Lee Smolin, an American-Canadian professor of physics and philosophy and a founding faculty member of the Perimeter Institute for Theoretical Physics in Waterloo, Ont., has “agreed to pause his working relationship” with the institute, Perimeter executive director Marcela Carena said in an email to CBC News.
The Perimeter Institute, a research centre recognized for work in quantum theory and initially funded in large part by BlackBerry co‑founder Mike Lazaridis, has launched a review of the situation, CBC News reported.
Smolin’s name surfaces in more than three million pages of material released by the U.S. Department of Justice on Jan. 30, documenting Epstein’s interactions with scientists, businesspeople and other associates over many years, says the media outlet.
“At Perimeter's request, Prof. Smolin has agreed to pause his working relationship with us as we undertake a careful review of the situation, and we will address this matter accordingly,” said Carena.
In 2024, the newly named chief commissioner of the Canadian Human Rights Commission (CHRC) stepped down from his post following an investigation into his past activities, including comments related to Israel, according to a report from The Canadian Press.
Epstein documents reveal relationship
Smolin has been working at the institute part time while also holding academic appointments at the University of Waterloo and the University of Toronto, according to CBC News.
And nothing in the records examined suggests that Smolin committed a crime or participated in Epstein’s sexual offending, and being mentioned in the “Epstein files” is not, by itself, evidence of misconduct, said the CBC, adding that Smolin did not respond to emails and voicemail messages seeking comment on the revelations.
Smolin is one of several high‑profile Canadians, including academics and business leaders, whose ongoing ties to Epstein are now under renewed scrutiny as more documents become public. He is among many prominent scientists who received research funding from Epstein, says the CBC, and Smolin told the Globe and Mail in November 2025 that the grants flowed “from around 1999 to 2001,” ending several years before Epstein was first charged.
Amid controversy over a costly retreat, the director of education at an Ontario school board resigned in March 2025.
Continued correspondence after conviction
The documents show that Smolin continued to correspond with Epstein well after the financier’s 2008 conviction in Florida on sex‑related charges involving a minor, said CBC.
Smolin confirmed Epstein’s funding to The Record in an email, stating that no money followed him to the Perimeter Institute: “My entire relationship with Epstein preceded my moving to Canada and beginning my position with pi (Perimeter Institute) in 2001.”
But the latest cache of Epstein documents — including emails reviewed by CBC News — indicate repeated contact between the two men up until at least 2013.
CBC News says that in September 2009, with Epstein on post‑jail probation and under house arrest, Smolin emailed: “I hear that you are out and living there at home. Hope all is well, would love to see you and catch up at some point.”
According to CBC’s review of the records, Epstein replied that he “would gladly fly [you] to Florida for a weekend with your family,” and further emails were exchanged at least until 2013 discussing research and travel plans.
