Joseph Edelman, a trustee of the Brown Corporation and hedge fund manager, publicly resigned from his Brown post Sunday. He cited Brown’s upcoming vote on divestment in October.
In a letter published in the Wall Street Journal, Edelman expressed concern about “the university’s attitude toward rising antisemitism on campus and a growing political movement that seeks the destruction of the state of Israel.”
Edelman, who is the chief executive officer of biotechnology investment firm Perceptive Advisors and a graduate of UC San Diego, joined the board in 2019 with a projected six-year term. His profile and information have been removed from the Brown Corporation’s website. He did not respond to The Herald's request for comment.
His publicized departure from the Corporation breaks with the governing body’s tendency to operate out of the public eye.
“I find it morally reprehensible that holding a divestment vote was even considered, much less that it will be held — especially in the wake of the deadliest assault on the Jewish people since the Holocaust,” Edelman wrote in his op-ed. “Israel, like all nations, has a moral duty to defend its citizens from terrorist attacks, and that is exactly what it has been doing.”
He criticized the University’s decision to hold an October vote on divestment from companies with ties to Israel in exchange for an agreement with pro-divestment demonstrators to dismantle an encampment on the campus green.
University Spokesperson Brian Clark, in an email to The Herald, wrote that "while we value the service of our former trustee, he has a fundamental misunderstanding of the decisions that led to the upcoming vote on divestment."
"Our process allows any University community member to submit a divestment proposal for examination, and does not pre-determine the merit or outcome," he wrote, adding that Brown's process for divestment was established decades ago.
Edelman is a major donor to the University. In 2014, the Corporation accepted a $1.65 million gift from him for funding circuit therapy research and upgrading equipment in the Institute for Brain Science. He and his wife also endowed the faculty director of the Center for Human Rights.
Edelman has been criticized for funding anti-trans advocacy in the United States.
The Edelman Family Foundation, his social impact firm, donated $1 million to the anti-trans advocacy group Do No Harm in 2022, a HuffPost investigation found.
Do No Harm has pushed bills restricting gender-affirming care for transgender people. The foundation also previously donated to Parents Defending Education, a group that opposes critical race theory and affirmative action in schools.
In the same year, according to tax filings, Edelman’s foundation made a $800,000 donation to the University.
This story has been updated with comment from the University.
Anisha Kumar is a section editor covering University Hall. She is a junior from Menlo Park, California concentrating in English and Political Science who loves speed-crosswording and rewatching sitcoms.
