Personal assistants, sexy robots, Ghislaine: the UTD-Epstein connection

Multiple UTD employees and alumni have been connected to Jeffrey Epstein, his associates or his activities in the “Epstein files” — unsealed Department of Justice documents released to the public last month.  

The most prominent connection, scattered across 158,735 partially redacted files, is Lesley Groff, a 1990 liberal arts UTD alum who served as Epstein’s personal assistant for over a decade and was later identified in court documents as a co-conspirator in his operations. 

Groff’s resume, contained in the files, describes her role managing “all day-to-day affairs” for a “Manhattan Billionaire Fund Manager/Socialite,” including “heavy calendaring,” coordinating complex domestic and international travel and supervising staff across Epstein’s households in Manhattan, Palm Beach, Sante Fe, Paris and a “private island in the Caribbean.” Her resume boasts of “heavy interaction with high level associates, financiers, government officials” and other high profile individuals. 

Beyond Groff, UTD has also been connected to a $2,500 university check sent to Ghislaine Maxwell years after her connection to Epstein’s crimes was already known, and a funding proposal sent by another alum for one of Epstein’s organizations to finance the creation of robots resembling human women. 

From Richardson to Little St James 

Groff graduated from UTD in 1990, a time when UTD’s enrollment was just 8,685 students, with a B.A. in liberal arts. By February 2001, she had become Jeffrey Epstein’s personal executive assistant — a position that placed her at the center of operations that prosecutors would later describe as a vast sex trafficking enterprise which involved minors.  

The files mention Groff extensively, reflecting her role in scheduling, organizing and managing the daily operations of Epstein’s homes and travel. Court documents and witness testimony have alleged that Groff is a co-conspirator who facilitated Epstein’s abuse of underage girls, though she has never been formally charged. Her resume, submitted during her employment with Epstein, lists her responsibilities as including “gatekeeper” duties, “screening routing and handling all telephone calls, emails, and texts” and maintaining “confidential office and personal files.” 

Before working for Epstein, Groff owned Village Office Supply in Bridgewater, New Jersey, which she grew “from its infancy to over $24 million.” Her time at Village Office Supply began immediately after graduating UTD in May 1990 and ended when she began working for Epstein. 

For current students, the association is deeply unsettling. 

“I think that as students, we should be a little upset that this is who we are inevitably going to be associated with,” political science and philosophy senior LeeAnn Patterson said. “I don’t want to be put in the same camp as somebody mentioned 158,000 times in the Epstein files. As a student, I’m upset.” 

I don’t want to be put in the same camp as somebody mentioned 158,000 times in the Epstein files.

— LeeAnn Patterson, political science and philosophy senior

Groff’s trajectory from Richardson to Epstein’s orbit raises questions about the university’s relationship with Epstein or his network, if any. The Retrograde submitted questions to UTD’s Office of Communications regarding Groff, the university’s awareness of her activities and any prior statements or donations from Groff to UTD. As of publication, UTD did not respond.  

“The university is woefully underestimating how much people care about child sex trafficking rings,” Texas attorney and UT Austin law alum Crystal Tran said.  “With somebody as prominent as Lesley Groff — who the documents have shown extensively is aware and has actively participated in the child sex trafficking ring — my question for the university is, did you guys know about this? It would be super easy for a university to disavow child sex traffickers.”  

A check, a speech and silence 

Groff’s connection is not the only thread connecting UTD to Epstein’s circle. Buried in the university’s promotional archive is a November 2014 News Center article announcing a campus visit from Ghislaine Maxwell — Epstein’s longtime associate and convicted sex trafficker.  

“Learn About Efforts to Protect High Seas at Free, Public Seminar,” the headline reads. The article described Ghislaine Maxwell as “a businesswoman and maritime explorer” who would “share her adventures on the high seas and how they led to the creation of the TerraMar Project,” a nonprofit focused on ocean conservation.  

The event, hosted by the School of Interdisciplinary Studies and the Teacher Development Center, featured a reception, presentation and Q&A session at the Clark Center auditorium. Tickets were free.  

Buried in the university’s promotional archive is a… campus visit from Ghislaine Maxwell — Epstein’s longtime associate and convicted sex trafficker.  

George Fair, former dean of the Interdisciplinary School, was quoted as saying: “As a university, we have a duty to educate our community about real-world issues. The goal of hosting this event is to engage as many people as possible in this opportunity to be better informed.” The NSM and EPPS schools also supported the event at the time. 

Two months after Maxwell’s visit, Terry Pankratz, then vice president for budget and finance, cut TerraMar a $2,500 check. 

“The [vice president] himself approved this?” Tran said. “That’s incredibly unusual given how university budget offices are typically run. This is even shadier. Now it becomes a question of why the highest-ranking finance person at the school is the one cutting the check when there are so many offices and officials below him that could, and in most cases would, have done it.” 

At the time of her UTD visit, Maxwell had already been publicly linked to Epstein following a 1996 report to the FBI regarding Epstein and Maxwell, and Epstein’s 2008 guilty plea in Florida state court for procuring a child for prostitution and solicitation of a prostitute. The full extent of her involvement in his operations would not become public until six years after her appearance on campus. Ghislaine was arrested in 2020 on federal sex trafficking charges.  

That’s incredibly unusual given how university budget offices are typically run. This is even shadier.

— Crystal Tran, Texas attorney

When Maxwell was being prosecuted, UTD’s name popped up once again. Within the Epstein files is a letter written to U.S. District Judge Alison Nathan on Nov. 30, 2020 — one month after Maxwell’s arrest — from Christine Malina-Maxwell, who identified herself as “one of Ghislaine Maxwell’s three sisters” and a “doctoral candidate in Holocaust Studies at the University of Texas at Dallas.”  

The four-page letter, submitted in support of Maxwell’s bail application, offers an impassioned defense of her sister’s character. Malina-Maxwell describes Maxwell as “full of ‘vim and vigor’” from childhood, details the family’s history of tragedy — including the death of a sister from leukemia and a brother’s fatal car accident — and portrays Maxwell as dedicated environmentalist whose TerraMar project helped influence the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goal 14 on ocean conservation.  

“To the best of my knowledge and belief, my sister Ghislaine has never been brought in for questioning, arrested, or charged with any criminal offense by law enforcement until now,” Malina-Maxwell wrote. “Ghislaine is not a malicious or jealous person. In all the 58 years I have known her, I have never seen her be violent or act inappropriately against anyone, let alone young adults or children as has been alleged.” 

Malina-Maxwell offered to put up her own home — valued at $1.5 million and described as her “only nest-egg for my retirement” — as part of Maxwell’s bail application. “I know in every fibre of my being that my sister Ghislaine will never try to flee and will absolutely turn up to her trial, to have the opportunity to fight the charges against her,” she wrote. 

Malina-Maxwell offered to put up her own home — valued at $1.5 million and described as her “only nest-egg for my retirement” — as part of Maxwell’s bail application.

The letter also reveals Malina-Maxwell’s professional credentials: she co-founded one of the first online search engines, “Magellan,” which was featured on the homepage of Netscape in the 1990s and inducted into the Internet Protocol v6 Hall of Fame in 2019. She was the CEO of Techtonic Insight, Inc., an internet search startup. 

Maxwell was convicted in 2021 on sex abuse charges and sentenced to 20 years in prison. She is currently incarcerated at Bryan Federal Prison Camp in Texas. The Independent reported in 2021 that Maxwell’s TerraMar “didn’t pay out a single dollar in grants between 2013 and 2017,” and in 2019 The New York Times reported that associates previously close to Maxwell described TerraMar as a cleanser for someone “whose reputation was in jeopardy.”  

“I absolutely do not think that the 2014 lecture was appropriate whatsoever, especially with the context that this was following Jeffrey Epstein’s crimes coming out,” Patterson said. “It does make me think a lot more about who we are bringing onto campus. For it to be a significant enough event for her to get a grant of that size, I think it should be something that UTD had thought about.” 

I absolutely do not think that the 2014 lecture was appropriate whatsoever, especially with the context that this was following Jeffrey Epstein’s crimes coming out. It does make me think a lot more about who we are bringing onto campus.

— LeeAnn Patterson

Tran shared a similarly critical sentiment: “You need to get ahead of this as a university so you don’t come off — in the realm of public opinion — as a university who paid real money to a fake expert on ocean conservation.” 

The Retrograde reached out to UTD officials for any additional correspondence or details related to Maxwell’s visit. Tonja Wissinger, current interim dean of the Interdisciplinary School, said that both Fair and Nix had retired. 

“I haven’t found any other details or records [from that event],” Wissinger said. “Dean Fair probably arranged for the event but he retired four years ago.  I haven’t been in touch with him since his retirement.” 

‘Gynoids’: Sexy woman-like robots and UTD 

The connection between UTD and Epstein with the largest sticker price, however, involves a detailed $3 million proposal to build Epstein what its authors described as a “beautiful female android” with “genius-level intellect” and a “gorgeous, realistic face.”  

In his three-page proposal, famed UTD alum David Hanson — founder of Hanson Robotics and creator of the lifelike “Sophia” robot alongside UTD professor Thomas Riccio — seeks funding with the major goal of developing what Hanson calls a “beautiful female android (or Gynoid more accurately).” 

The end goal of the project was to give the proposed robot the general intelligence of a “three-year-old child.”  

Hanson received his Ph.D. from UTD in 2007 in Aesthetic Studies/Interactive Arts and Engineering and has maintained connections with the university, including teaching as an instructor in 2010.  

The end goal of the project was to give the proposed robot the general intelligence of a “three-year-old child.”  

Notably, the proposal emphasizes that “the final design will be done collaboratively with you” — referring to Epstein — suggesting he would have direct input into the android’s appearance and capabilities.  

The proposal was never funded — at least not by Epstein. Hanson Robotics went on to achieve international fame with “Sophia,” a social humanoid robot that has addressed United Nations conferences and appeared on talk shows worldwide. Hanson’s CV also appears in the files after it was sent to Epstein. The CV spans 14 pages and details his extensive publication record, artistic exhibitions and entrepreneurial ventures.  

The Retrograde has similarly asked UTD detailed questions about Hanson, and has not received a response as of publication. 

“I think it’s disgusting that UTD dollars, UTD’s name, UTD research and UTD faculty have any association with working on something that can be so degrading to women,” Patterson said. “There’s so many other cool things you could be doing in research in terms of engineering and computer science. I don’t think sexy robots are the avenue that UTD needs to be following.” 

I don’t think sexy robots are the avenue that UTD needs to be following.

— LeeAnn Patterson

The proposal raises questions about what UTD administrators knew about Hanson’s fundraising efforts and whether the university’s name was used without authorization in seeking Epstein’s funding. The Retrograde submitted detailed questions to UTD’s Office of Communications regarding the proposal and the university’s knowledge of Hanson’s activities. As of publication, UTD did not respond. 

“We are trusting universities to have the wherewithal to train the minds of generations, while there are researchers and professors at these universities who have influence over these students,” Tran said. “We’re out here talking about the indoctrination of students and teaching ‘woke’ ideology and all this bullshit while we have a literal professor who, even separate from the sex robots, was conducting research with alumni that perpetuated blatant sexism and, with these new documents, high-key pedophilia right below our noses this whole time. That’s insane.” 

Reputation management 

Beyond these direct associations, the Epstein files contain passing references to several current and former UTD professors whose research intersected with Epstein’s interests. In a November 2010 email exchange between Epstein and his associates, Al Seckel, former husband of Malina-Maxwell’s twin sister, suggested that Epstein leverage Roger Malina, Malina-Maxwell’s husband, and his role as editor of MIT Press’s Leonardo journal to improve Epstein’s post-guilty plea reputation. This was one of Seckel’s many attempts to suppress “toxic” reputation-damaging information about Epstein after his guilty plea.  

Malina, who is the former executive editor of Leonardo and current co-director of the ArtSciLab at UTD, confirmed in an interview with The Retrograde that he met Seckel approximately half a dozen times in the 1990s as part of his extensive professional network.  

“I was a professional networker,” Malina said. “I often met people who later turned out to be unethical. I don’t think Al Seckel was like that. The fact that Leonardo and I are mentioned in the government files — I double checked. Seckel sent an email to Epstein mentioning Leonardo and that I might be interested in his science website. There was no Epstein science website.” 

Malina cautioned against drawing sweeping conclusions from the files, noting they capture the full suite of Epstein’s decades-long effort to assert himself in intellectual circles.  

“This is the network of networks problem,” Malina said. “There’s a term, apophenia — the tendency to see meaningful patterns or connections in random, noisy or unrelated information. The brain is a pattern-finding machine, and sometimes it mistakes a pattern when it’s actually something else.” 

This is the network of networks problem.

— Rodger Malina, co-director of the ArtSciLab at UTD

Legal experts say such glancing connections are common in the files. Epstein collected academics the way some collect art, seeking their proximity and credibility. 

“Being named in the files doesn’t necessarily mean you did anything legally wrong,” Tran said. “But it does mean he considered you useful. Here we have a man who can’t even say seven simple words: ‘No, I am not involved in that.’ That’s all that is needed.’” 

‘I think it’s disgusting’ 

Compared to other universities, UTD’s connections to Epstein are neither the most extensive nor the most damning. MIT’s Media Lab faced years of scandal following revelations that it accepted millions of dollars from Epstein while administrators concealed the funding’s source. Harvard’s name appears thousands of times across the files. But for UTD, a university that has spent decades cultivating a reputation as a serious research institution, situations like an alum who served as Epstein’s personal assistant, a $2,500 payment to Epstein’s accomplice after his conviction and an alum who sought Epstein’s funding for robotics research raise questions about past and former institutional oversight.  

“Not only do I believe that I myself and a large majority of students are incredibly uncomfortable with this revelation, but I believe that it is also the school’s responsibility to make a statement,” criminology junior and Student Government senator Jasmine Kouhestani said. “I think it is UTD’s responsibility not only to acknowledge it but also denounce any involvement and make clear that they do not support this, that they are not on board with this. Being quiet shows they’re complacent.” 

Being quiet shows they’re complacent.

— Jasmine Kouhestani, criminology junior and Student Government senator

Patterson said UTD is good at responding to pressure from donors or organized groups to spur change, and that the current silence is a result of no group applying pressure to UTD about its connections with Epstein. 

“Accountability is important, and silence is loud,” Patterson said. “An admission that we made a mistake is not damning. It speaks highly to an intellectual university that I would like to put my name on, to be able to take accountability and grow.” 

Groff’s name appears more than 158,000 times across the Epstein files — a statistical artifact of a document dump that captured every mention, every email, every passing reference to Epstein’s activity which she oversaw. But for students who share her alma mater, the name represents something else: a reminder that the path from Richardson to Epstein’s network has already been well-trodden, and that universities rarely examine the roads their alumni travel after they leave.  

“It is the mere appearance of impropriety that the university should care about in this case,” Tran said. “Not whether or not some bullshit prestige metric is met. Because trust me, the prestige is gonna run out real quick when people start realizing that they don’t want to go to a school that in the past protected these kinds of people linked to Epstein and failed to disavow it.” 

The prestige is gonna run out real quick when people start realizing that they don’t want to go to a school that in the past protected these kinds of people linked to Epstein and failed to disavow it.

— Crystal Tran