Dan Ariely, a longtime professor at Duke University, appears to have had a long-standing friendship with disgraced financier Jeffrey Epstein, as revealed in a newly released tranche of emails. Wikimedia Commons
A sweeping release of emails tied to convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein has drawn fresh attention to Dan Ariely, a longtime Duke University professor and one of the most recognizable figures in behavioral economics, revealing repeated correspondence, including a message in which Ariely asked Epstein for help reconnecting with a woman he had previously met.
The records were made public by the U.S. Department of Justice as part of a massive disclosure of Epstein-related materials previously gathered by the FBI.
The Ariely-Epstein connection was first reported Friday (January 30) by The Duke Chronicle in an article by Ana Despa and Claire Cranford, who reviewed the newly released archive.
WHAT WAS RELEASED – AND HOW ARIELY APPEARS IN IT
According to the Chronicle’s reporting, the Justice Department disclosure comprises roughly 3.5 million pages of records, making it one of the largest document releases connected to the Epstein investigation. Within that archive, Ariely’s name appears 636 times, indicating repeated references across the released materials.
Among the records reported on by the Chronicle are multiple email exchanges between Ariely and Epstein. One message from September 2012, sent by Ariely to Epstein after discussing a possible meeting in New York, reads in part: “would you send me the name and email of the redhead that was here with you? She seemed very very smart and I would love to be able to meet her again at some point.”
The email is signed, “Honestly* yours, Dan”. The exchange appears in a longer thread in which Ariely and Epstein discuss scheduling coffee when their travel plans overlapped.
The Chronicle reports that other emails show the two men coordinating meetings and discussing introductions.
WHAT THE DOCUMENTS DO – AND DO NOT – SHOW
As reported by the Chronicle, the released materials do not allege criminal or unethical conduct by Ariely, nor do they establish a financial or professional partnership between him and Epstein. The documents instead show repeated contact and correspondence over time.
The Chronicle notes that the presence of a person’s name in the Epstein archive does not itself imply wrongdoing and must be interpreted in context.
ARIELY’S ACADEMIC PROFILE & PUBLIC PROMINENCE
Ariely, 58, is a James B. Duke Professor of psychology and behavioral economics at Duke University and has been a member of the faculty for more than 18 years. He is among the most visible scholars in behavioral economics, known for research on irrational decision-making, honesty, ethics, and human behavior.
He holds joint faculty appointments across psychiatry and behavioral sciences, the Sanford School of Public Policy, Fuqua School of Business, and the economics department within Trinity College of Arts & Sciences. Ariely earned his doctorate in business administration from Duke in 1998 and began his professorship at the university in 2008.
He is the founder and principal of Duke’s Center for Advanced Hindsight, a research lab focused on applying behavioral science to improve decision-making. Beyond academia, Ariely is the author of several bestselling books, including Predictably Irrational, The Upside of Irrationality, and The Honest Truth About Dishonesty. From 2012 to 2022, he wrote an advice column for The Wall Street Journal titled “Ask Ariely.”
CONTEXT OF PRIOR SCRUTINY
Ariely has faced criticism at Duke dating back to at least 2010 over the reliability and reproducibility of some of his research. That scrutiny intensified after allegations that data had been falsified in a 2012 paper examining methods to discourage dishonesty, a study that was later retracted.
In January 2024, Ariely told The Chronicle of Higher Education that Duke had completed a confidential investigation concluding that the data had been falsified but that he did not knowingly fabricate them. A university spokesperson told the magazine that Duke could not comment on the investigation.
University leaders have since reiterated that allegations of academic misconduct are taken seriously but that investigations remain confidential to protect faculty privacy.
Neither the university nor Ariely had responded to the Chronicle story on the Epstein emails by publication time, according to the report.
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