Martin Andreas Nowak (born April 7, 1965) is an Austrian-born professor of mathematical biology, at Harvard University since 2003. He is one of the leading researchers in the field that studies the role of cooperation in evolution. Nowak has held professorships in Oxford and Princeton before being recruited to Harvard in 2003 when Jeffrey Epstein donated a large sum of money to set up a center for studying cooperation in evolution. Nowak's best known work outside of academia is his 2011 book SuperCooperators: Altruism, Evolution and Why We Need Each Other to Succeed. This book is partly an autobiography and partly a popular presentation of his work in mathematical biology on the evolution of cooperation. In the book Nowak also wrote favorably about his interactions with Jeffrey Epstein, who had donated to Harvard to enable the creation of an institute headed by Nowak. In 2020 Nowak was disciplined by being suspended from teaching for two years and having his institute permanently closed down as a punishment for having continued to let Epstein access the university's Graduate School of Arts and Sciences ten years after his conviction for sex crimes. Early life and education Nowak was born April 7, 1965 in Vienna, Austria. He studied at Albertus Magnus Gymnasium and the University of Vienna, earning a doctorate in biochemistry and mathematics in 1989. He worked with Peter Schuster on quasi-species theory and with Karl Sigmund on evolution of cooperation. Nowak received the highest Austrian honors (Sub auspiciis Praesidentis) when awarded his degree. Career From 1989 to 1998, Nowak worked at the University of Oxford with Robert May as an Erwin Schrödinger postdoctoral Scholar and Wellcome Trust Senior Research Fellow. From 1997 to 1998, Nowak was a professor of mathematical biology. After 1998, he conducted research at the Institute for Advanced Study at Princeton and established a program in theoretical biology. In 2003, Nowak was recruited to Harvard University as Professor of Mathematics and Biology. He was appointed Director of the Program for Evolutionary Dynamics (PED). The PED was funded with a total nine million dollars from the Jeffrey Epstein VI Foundation, In 2003, Epstein had introduced himself as a science philanthropist supporter of Nowak's work, cementing the initial interaction with a large donation to Harvard. Scientific American reported that Nowak's team received US$6.5 million initially, with nothing released to him after 2007, a couple of hundred thousand dollars remained unspent. Nowak