Current University of Miami physics professor, Thomas Curtright, was involved in discussions with American financier and sex offender Jeffrey Epstein about funding a physics center in the Bahamas, according to documents contained in the most recent Epstein files release.
Their plan was for the center to be “an extension of the [physics] theory center of the University of Miami.”
The Department of Justice recently released millions of pages titled the “Epstein files,” including documents that show correspondence between UM Professor Curtright, Israeli physicist Eduardo Leon Guendelman and Epstein.
Guendelman, who worked alongside Curtright in creating the new physics center, works in the physics department at Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, located in Beersheba, Israel.
One document shows Guendelman and Curtright expressing their gratitude to Epstein for his initial interest in potentially funding the new physics center associated with UM. However, the center was never built.
“No, [the physics center] did not open as a physical place, only virtual. We operate with very little money for the organization of conferences, and we have publications in scientific journals,” said Guendelman in a statement to The Hurricane.
Epstein was first investigated for allegations of abusing a minor in 2005. In 2008, he was sentenced to 18 months in jail and registered as a sex offender.
In the decade that followed Epstein’s first investigation in 2005, multiple women accused him of being a serial rapist and human trafficker. He was arrested on federal sex trafficking charges in July of 2019, and, a month later, he was found dead in his cell. An investigation concluded that he had committed suicide.
Since then, his victims have demanded justice and the release of all court records and documents compiled in the many Epstein investigations.
In a statement to The Hurricane, Curtright said that he became involved in discussions with Epstein after Guendelman suggested he could be a good source of funding for the new physics center in the Bahamas.
“Professor Guendelman identified Epstein as a possible philanthropic source of funding, based on Epstein’s having provided money for previous academic activities,” Curtright said.
Guendelman also spearheaded a physics conference that UM has been named an academic sponsor of, although it is unclear whether or not the University is aware of Curtright and Guendelaman’s communication with Epstein.
The conference, titled Bahamas Advanced Study Institute and Conferences (BASIC), was intended to be a symposium for other physicists or scientists interested in multi-disciplinary physics.
The beginnings of the BASIC conference were outlined in emails between Epstein and Guendelman. Guendelman stated he and Curtright wanted to use space on either Long Island or Stella Maris for both the UM-affiliated physics center and BASIC.
“It was never ascertained by either me or Guendelman that funding from Epstein was a real possibility,” said Curtright. “I did not become aware of his sordid past until his indictment in 2019, after which neither Professor Guendelman nor I had anything to do with him.”
Epstein never went through with the funding.
According to the University of Miami’s College of Arts and Sciences webpage, BASIC was hosted by Curtright, Guendelman and Kings College’s theoretical physicist Peter West in 2024, 2025 and 2026 in the Bahamas. It is unclear how long the University of Miami has been funding BASIC.
West has not yet responded to The Hurricane’s request for comment. The Hurricane also reached out to the University of Miami for comment and has not yet received a response.