Stephanie M. Lee

can you teach something at Texas A&M? just follow this flowchart.

www.chronicle.com/article/insi... via @jasperjsmith.bsky.social and @mzahneis.bsky.social

For journalists who want to dig into stories about scientific integrity: Here's an exciting new opportunity from two of my favorite science-journalism organizations, @retractionwatch.com and @theopennotebook.bsky.social. I'll be joining a webinar to help kick things off on March 26!

Unmasking Academe’s Gilded Boys’ Club The Epstein files reveal an elite, chummy, and venal scholarly network.

"Within a trove of millions of pages of documents related to Jeffrey Epstein, a notorious sex offender whose wealth and connections proved alluring to academics in search of money, women in higher ed are seeing evidence that supports a story they know all too well." www.chronicle.com/article/unma...

Scientists face fallout for past associations with Epstein Jack Horner, who was a consultant for the Jurassic Park films, is among the researchers whose work or careers have been affected because of revelations from newly released documents.

Several scientists who are linked to convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein in files released last month are now facing consequences.

go.nature.com/4qXFkYS

Summers To Resign From Teaching Appointments, Relinquish University Professorship Over Epstein Ties | News | The Harvard Crimson Former Harvard President Larry Summers will resign from his academic and faculty appointments at Harvard at the end of the academic year, relinquishing his University Professorship — Harvard’s…

EXCLUSIVE: Former Harvard President Larry Summers will resign from his academic and faculty appointments at Harvard at the end of the academic year, following revelations of close ties to Jeffrey Epstein.

Hugo C. Chiasson and Elise A. Spenner report.

www.thecrimson.com/article/2026...

Jeffrey Epstein’s tissue samples ignited a furor in the Harvard lab of George Church Exclusive: Harvard geneticist George Church knew more about Jeffrey Epstein's activities than he has previously said, before accepting new donations from the sex offender.

Exclusive: Interviews with Harvard lab members reveal internal pushback against prioritizing Jeffrey Epstein's tissue sample for genome sequencing — which did not stop the Epstein from receiving special treatment.

But where is his sample now?

After leaving WHO, Trump officials propose more expensive replacement to duplicate it HHS proposes spending $2 billion a year to re-create systems the U.S. accessed through the WHO at a fraction of the cost, according to officials briefed on the matter.

Exclusive: After pulling out of WHO, the Trump administration is proposing spending $2 billion a year to replicate the global disease surveillance and outbreak functions the United States once helped build, which will cost about three times as much.

Higher Ed’s Most Divisive Chancellor Daniel Diermeier says reform will save the sector. His critics say he’s exploiting its crisis.

Wrote about the Vanderbilt chancellor for @chronicle.com. Depending on where you stand, he's a calculated opportunist or a savior of higher ed. www.chronicle.com/article/high...

N.I.H. Director Will Temporarily Run C.D.C. in Leadership Shake-Up

SCOOP: Jay Bhattacharya, NIH director, will also serve as acting CDC director, per two admin officials, until Trump names a permanent director.

POTUS will nominate Jim O'Neill, who left HHS on Friday, to run National Science Foundation.
www.nytimes.com/2026/02/18/u...

go @danvergano.bsky.social !

The Multibillion-Dollar Foundation That Controls the Humanities Is the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation the last best hope for American arts and letters—or is it killing them?

"What are the consequences when eye-watering sums of money are put behind the idea that the purpose of American arts and letters is not wisdom but advocacy?" www.theatlantic.com/magazine/202...

NEW: Another NIH institute director hasn't been renewed — the director of NIAMS (arthritis, musculoskeletal and skin diseases institute).

That leaves a whopping 15 of 27 institutes and centers without a permanent director.

Thanks to @cathleenogrady.bsky.social for including me in this important story! I'm quoted talking about how it's crucial to run your findings by experts, and how journalists have to accept that we ultimately don't control how our work gets used or interpreted.

I've had so much respect and admiration for the Post's health/science team over the years. The losses there (and throughout the whole newsroom) are heartbreaking

How Higher Ed Staved Off a Research-Funding Bloodbath — For Now Faced with potentially losing billions, colleges rallied behind a compromise plan. It now has a thumbs-up from Congress.

NEW: A year ago, the NIH said it would cap research-overhead costs, a change that would cost colleges billions. A ragtag group rallied behind a compromise plan—and it seems to have traction.

Here's how higher ed staved off a research-funding bloodbath (for now): www.chronicle.com/article/how-...

How Higher Ed Staved Off a Research-Funding Bloodbath — For Now Faced with potentially losing billions, colleges rallied behind a compromise plan. It now has a thumbs-up from Congress.

NEW: A year ago, the NIH said it would cap research-overhead costs, a change that would cost colleges billions. A ragtag group rallied behind a compromise plan—and it seems to have traction.

Here's how higher ed staved off a research-funding bloodbath (for now): www.chronicle.com/article/how-...

Epstein files show a complicated relationship with science and journalism Jeffrey Epstein aggressively sought access to publishers, mentions of Scientific American and other media in Department of Justice files show

Epstein files show a complicated relationship with science and journalism

Jeffrey Epstein aggressively sought access to publishers, mentions of Scientific American and other media in Department of Justice files show

www.scientificamerican.com/article/epst...

Tenure Will Be Eliminated at Most of Oklahoma’s Public Colleges, Governor Says Gov. Kevin Stitt, a Republican, directed the state’s two-dozen regional universities and community colleges to phase out the practice. Existing faculty members will be grandfathered in.

Breaking, from me: An executive order from Oklahoma's governor directs most of the state's public colleges to "phase out tenure." #AcademicSky #HigherEd @chronicle.com
www.chronicle.com/article/tenu...

How Colleges’ Pursuit of a Diverse Professoriate Came Back to Bite Them What was once an urgent imperative has become a legal and political liability. One university’s experience shows how.

At Ohio State U, faculty hiring committees sometimes explicitly considered candidates’ race and sex, in pursuit of diversity.

I spent some time exploring how OSU, and all of higher ed, seemingly ignored both the legal and reputational risk staring it in the face.
www.chronicle.com/article/dive...

Final schedule F rule "will allow agencies to quickly remove employees from critical positions who engage in misconduct, perform poorly, or *obstruct the democratic process by intentionally
subverting Presidential directives.*"

(emphasis mine)

public-inspection.federalregister.gov/2026-02375.pdf

He Was Laid Off at The Washington Post After Working There 60 Years

He Was Laid Off at The Washington Post After Working There 60 Years www.nytimes.com/2026/02/05/b...

cover of The Washington Post on Wednesday Feb 4, 2026. Headline on bottom, right: Musk wanted to hook users; his chatbot got more sexual

My story on Elon Musk cutting safeguards at xAI is on the front page of today's @washingtonpost.com. I’m also among 100’s of reporters laid off. I absolutely loved my job my brilliant coworkers & the thrill of reporting @ the center of forces upending the world: AI & Silicon Valley’s political power

A staggering statement from former Washington Post editor Marty Baron: "This ranks among the darkest days in the history of one of the world's greatest news organizations."

Former Stanford professor Nathan Wolfe ’92 planned sexual behavior research, described interns with Epstein The Daily investigated correspondence between virologist Nathan Wolfe ’92 and Epstein in which the two men discussed interns’ attractiveness, “female viagra” and sexual research projects.

Virologist Nathan Wolfe sought funding from Jeffrey Epstein to study whether sexually transmitted infections increased women’s sex drive.

He planned to conduct this study among female undergraduate students.

Here’s What the Latest Epstein Files Say About His Ties to Higher Ed New documents released by the Department of Justice on Friday reinforce that long after his criminal convictions, many prominent professors continued to communicate with him.

Here’s What the Latest Epstein Files Say About His Ties to Higher Ed: Collectively, the files underscore how deeply Epstein remained embedded in academic and intellectual circles even after his criminal history became public. www.chronicle.com/article/here...

Duke professor Dan Ariely had longstanding friendship with Jeffrey Epstein, newly released files show Ariely is named in 636 of the some 3 million newly released files. He was a prominent professor at Duke over the course of his correspondence with Epstein.

"[Epstein] was arrested in 2006 & pleaded guilty in 2008"

"Ariely & Epstein met at least 7 times from 2010-2016"

"Ariely is named 636 times in the more than 3 million additional files released"

"Neither Ariely nor Duke responded to ... requests for comment"

www.dukechronicle.com/article/duke...

I'm at the Willard Hotel where I've been denied entry and kicked out of the Reclaiming Science event with NIH director Bhattacharya & other top agency leaders.

@jocelynkaiser.bsky.social and I registered for the event months ago yet were told capacity was full, even as they let in dozens of others.

Inside a tech company’s secretive plan to destroy millions of books Court filings reveal how AI companies raced to obtain more books to feed chatbots, including by buying, scanning and disposing of millions of titles.

more details and sharp analysis from @willoremus.com and @aaronschaffer.com here is a gift link wapo.st/4rjXAMQ

To avoid accusations of AI cheating, college students are turning to AI Students are taking new measures, such as dumbing down their work, spying on themselves and using AI “humanizer” programs, to beat accusations of cheating with artificial intelligence.

NEW: How do college students try to avoid being falsely accused of using AI to cheat?

By turning to AI...

My latest @nbcnews.com story shows how even students who want nothing to do with AI can't seem to escape it - and it fuels a new niche industry of "humanizers"

www.nbcnews.com/tech/interne...

They ‘Had Done Everything Right.’ ICE Detained Them Anyway.

We profiled refugees who:

Arrived in the country legally.

Applied for green cards.

Were arrested by ICE and detained.

One refugee who was arrested found out they got their green card after being released.

This is an unprecedented operation.

www.nytimes.com/2026/01/26/u...