Robert Trivers

Robert Trivers was an American evolutionary biologist, born February 19, 1943, who profoundly influenced evolutionary biology and sociobiology through theories including reciprocal altruism, parental investment, parent-offspring conflict, and self-deception. He held faculty positions at Harvard University, the University of California, Santa Cruz, and Rutgers University (1994–2015), was awarded the 2007 Crafoord Prize in Biosciences, and died March 12, 2026. Coverage by the New York Daily News (via Yahoo News, February 3, 2026) describes him as an “ex-Rutgers professor” who served as president of the Biosocial Research Foundation, based in Millstone, New Jersey, and reports that he was suspended by Rutgers in 2014 and later received a buyout.

Inside Higher Ed reported on February 1, 2015 that Trivers, then described as a Rutgers University biologist, received approximately $40,000 from Jeffrey Epstein to study the link between knee symmetry and sprinting ability. In the same period, Inside Higher Ed quoted Trivers questioning the severity of the charges against Epstein, saying: “By the time they’re 14 or 15, they’re like grown women were 60 years ago, so I don’t see these acts as so heinous.” Inside Higher Ed said it contacted both Trivers and Rutgers for further comment and received no response. The New York Daily News reported in February 2026, citing released emails, that Epstein wrote a $30,000 check to Trivers’s foundation and that Trivers confirmed receiving roughly $40,000 from Epstein for the knee-symmetry research; it also noted Trivers had called Epstein “a person of integrity” in a 2015 Reuters interview.

A separate Inside Higher Ed article from February 3, 2026 (“9 More Higher Ed Names in the Epstein Files”) reported additional quotes attributed to Trivers from released emails, including that Epstein “was always a gentleman” and a message in which Trivers wrote that “the basic problem is simple—i am going against a strong national trend—well-known man after well-known man is being brought low for alleged his misbehaviour toward women.” The Epstein files released in 2026 record that Trivers, a longtime friend of both financier Gordon Getty and Jeffrey Epstein, introduced Getty to Epstein in 2013, and that Getty often funded Trivers’s research. Reporting on the released files also attributes a 2017 statement to Trivers describing his relationship with Epstein as “valuable mostly because he is extremely bright, open-minded and widely travelled.”

Is Robert Trivers in the Epstein files?

Robert Trivers is named in connection with the Jeffrey Epstein files and in earlier reporting about Epstein’s ties to academics. According to Inside Higher Ed and the New York Daily News, he received research funding from Epstein, and the released Epstein files record that he introduced Getty to Epstein in 2013. Being named in the files or in related reporting is not in itself evidence of any crime or wrongdoing. The sources above document the specific, attributed context for his appearance; readers should consult them directly.

Evidence

These passages come from the Epstein correspondence in the DOJ Epstein Files release, transcribed below as reported by Inside Higher Ed and the New York Daily News, with our annotations tying each to what this profile states. The quoted lines are Trivers’s own words as recorded in the released emails.

Read the originals: DOJ Epstein Files (EFTA release portal) ↗

Documents

Primary-source records that name or reference Robert Trivers. Inclusion in these documents is not, by itself, evidence of wrongdoing; Trivers’s documented tie to Epstein is as a funded researcher and correspondent.

• DOJ Epstein Files (full EFTA release portal) — Per Inside Higher Ed (Feb. 2026), the DOJ release of Epstein’s correspondence includes emails to and from Trivers, in which he wrote that Epstein “was always a gentleman” and complained about the “strong national trend” of misconduct allegations against prominent men. Reporting on the release also records that Trivers introduced Gordon Getty to Epstein in 2013 and received roughly $40,000 from Epstein for research on knee symmetry and sprinting ability.