Duke professor named hundreds of times in newly released Epstein files
A Duke University professor appears in more than 700 of the newest Epstein files released by the Justice Department, one of which asks the convicted sex trafficker to provide the name and email of a “redhead” he wished to see again.
The federal government released 3 million new pages Friday in response to the Epstein Files Transparency Act, 733 of which contain a reference to Fuqua School of Business professor Dan Ariely, whose research focuses on behavioral economics and the “irrational ways people behave.”
The emails between Epstein and Ariely span almost a decade between 2010 and 2018, many of them just replies on a lengthy thread. But they show a close relationship between the two, who regularly spoke of meeting in New York or organizing conferences with writers and intellectuals.
“I encountered Jeffrey Epstein on only four occasions over the span of nearly a decade,” Ariely said in an email to The N&O Monday. “My correspondence with him was infrequent, largely logistical pertaining to conferences and academia, and was often mediated by assistants. Importantly, there was zero financial, professional, or ongoing relationship.”
Duke issued this statement Monday afternoon:
“Duke takes the information released on Friday seriously and is carefully evaluating it. We cannot comment on specific personnel actions that may be taken in response.”
The Duke professor and the Epstein files
In 2011, according to the released documents, Ariely asked Epstein for contact with financial criminal Bernie Madoff for his research on dishonesty, and in 2015, he asked if he could introduce him to Noel Biderman, CEO of the controversial extramartial affairs site Ashley Madison, to “help him think about life after a scandal.”
In a 2012 email, first reported by The Chronicle at Duke, Ariely wrote, “Would you send 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.”
No further mention of the redhead appears in the new Epstein document release and it is not clear whether the mention had any connection to the late financier’s crime.
Dalai Lama, Ferrari factory
In 2017, Ariely wrote Epstein about his desire to seek new adventures.
“I would love to go to an interesting monastery, maybe with a Dalai Lama,” he said in the email. “I would love to go to CERN and see the nuclear accelerator. I would like to go to Ferrari and see how they make cars and drive one.”
Epstein emailed back that he had arranged for a private Ferrari factory tour, to which Ariely responded, “Seriously? This is just amazing.”
A wealthy financier and social jet-setter, Epstein died of apparent suicide in 2019 after his conviction on federal charges of sex trafficking of minors.
The new documents that include Ariely came as part of 3 million-plus pages released on Friday, well past the Trump Administration’s promised December deadline.
Previous criticism of Duke professor Dan Ariely
Ariely has taught psychology and behavioral economics at Duke since 2008. He has more than 180,000 followers on X, the platform formerly known as Twitter, and has given Ted Talks with millions of views on YouTube. His book titles include “The Honest Truth About Dishonesty” and “Misbelief.”
In recent years, Ariely has drawn fire for using fake data in his 2012 study on honesty in self-reports, The N&O has previously reported.
In a July 28 episode of the popular NPR podcast “Planet Money,” the insurance company The Hartford confirmed the data it provided Ariely for the honesty study “was manipulated inappropriately” after Ariely received it.
The paper has since been retracted, but Ariely denied manipulating data in statements to both NPR and The N&O.
He is, however, not the only academic connected to the files. On Monday, the Yale News reported that a computer professor at the Ivy League school had written to Epstein describing an undergraduate as a “good looking blonde.”
This story was originally published February 2, 2026 at 1:26 PM.