Northwestern chemistry professor Nathan Gianneschi briefly exchanged messages with Jeffrey Epstein to arrange a time to share some of his research work, new documents from the U.S. Department of Justice show.

Gianneschi joined Northwestern’s faculty in 2017, returning after completing his Ph.D. at the university twelve years earlier. His name first appears in the recent batch of documents when a woman by the name of Pam, who identified herself as the aunt of Gianneschi’s wife, recommended him as an outstanding scholar for Epstein to meet.

“I asked (Gianneschi) to send information about the work he is doing at UCSD. This guy is brilliant and I know you would enjoy him very much. He is a lot like you. He has won awards worldwide and has published several papers,” Pam wrote to Epstein in September 2011, when Gianneschi still taught chemistry and biochemistry at the University of California, San Diego.

The email exchange shows that earlier in April 2011, Gianneschi had reached out to Pam, gushing about a proposal presumably related to his research. Gianneschi is a renowned researcher in the field of nanotechnology, designing smart materials for target drug delivery.

“This includes my lab and others. This is how you change the game at a research institute. We have great ideas, and NEED the best Ph.D. students to pull it off,” he wrote to Pam.

There appears to be a major gap then until Gianneschi and Epstein’s first interaction. The documents indicate that four years later, the pair tried to arrange a call. Gianneschi appears to have postponed the meeting a few times, until Epstein called it off.

“Nathan, it’s obvious that our call is low on your priority list… let’s forget it. Good luck,” Epstein texted him in August 2015.

Gianneschi hastily replied, “I'm very, very sorry that it has come off that way. This is certainly not my intention at all. In fact, I have been looking forward to it. I've committed my life to our scientific endeavors, and am eager to describe some of it to you, given that Pam had said you had interests in some of these areas.”

That seems to be the end of their interaction. But as mentioned in our last issue, Gianneschi’s appearance in the documents serves as another example of Epstein’s allure among academics. 

Some have said this allowed him to cultivate an image as a serious science philanthropist, while his true intention could have likely been to buy access to high-profile individuals.

Gianneschi did not respond to a request for comment.

Unlike Gianneschi, Northwestern Professor Emeritus Roger Schank did not communicate with Epstein solely about science and research. Occasionally, they spoke about their families, meetings and other topics, including women and girls. 

In June 2011, Schank sent Epstein an email that read, “Dinner with girl tell me more about her.” Epstein emailed back, “Don’t get too excited.”

In another exchange, Schank seemed to be warning Epstein of being sued for his interactions with minors. In June 2009, Schank wrote, “Apparently you were discussed a woman said she overheard 2 15 yr olds discussing going to your house and they said they were going because their dads had agreed that they could then sue you.” 

Epstein replied to Schank, telling him to find out who the girls were. 

Schank’s conversations with Epstein stretched long after Epstein’s conviction in 2008, continuing as he faced more and more allegations of sex trafficking and abuse. 

University spokesperson Hilary Hurd Anyaso said that Northwestern is aware of Schank and Gianneschi’s inclusion in the Epstein files but declined to comment further.

Northwestern computer science professor Chris Riesbeck emailed with Epstein in 2014, documents from the DOJ show. 

Schank introduced Riesbeck to Epstein — the conversation was about showing Epstein a coding course Riesbeck helped develop. From there, the pair scheduled a time to chat on the phone.

“First thing will be to get you a student account so you can access our courses. I’ll initiate that,” Riesbeck wrote to Epstein in April 2014. 

Schank served as a longtime mentor and colleague to Riesbeck. Schank advised Riesbeck’s Ph.D. at Stanford, and the pair co-authored books on coding and AI. Schank and Riesbeck both came to NU in 1989. Riesbeck currently serves as a director of the Center for Computer Science and Learning Sciences.

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