New Hampshire businessman Dean Kamen is resigning from his position on the board of directors of FIRST, the latest fallout from revelations earlier this year about his ties to sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.
In January, Kamen voluntarily placed himself on leave from FIRST, the youth science organization he founded in Manchester in 1989 that has become a global force in robotics education. That came after records and emails released by the U.S. Department of Justice showed the men were in contact for more than a decade, and that Kamen visited Epstein’s private island in the Caribbean, a known hub of abuse.
In a statement issued Wednesday, Laurie Leshin, FIRST’s board chair, said Kamen was voluntarily withdrawing from all FIRST activities.
“Dean made this decision in the best interest of FIRST to avoid potential distractions to its many stakeholders,” Leshin said.
Leshin said an independent review “found no evidence of misconduct” by Kamen.
“Nonetheless, Dean has acknowledged errors in judgment by not avoiding any connection with Jeffrey Epstein and his associates after Epstein’s conviction in 2008,” said Leshin.
Kamen has not been accused of any criminal wrongdoing, and has said he had only limited interactions with Epstein.
But records show that in April 2013 — five years after Epstein served jail time for soliciting a minor for sex — Kamen visited Epstein’s private island, and in a subsequent email thanked his host, calling it a “magical place.” Other correspondence released by the Justice Department includes a reference to Kamen flying “the girls” to “PB from NY,” an apparent reference to Palm Beach, Florida, where Epstein owned a mansion.
In 2009, Epstein helped coordinate a $10,000 donation to the New York affiliate of FIRST, and emails show he encouraged others to form ties with the nonprofit, including a prominent diplomat and a former White House lawyer, though it’s not clear Kamen was aware of Epstein's efforts.
In 2013, Nadia Marcinko, who has been described as both a victim of Epstein’s sexual abuse as well as an enabler of it, was featured in a newsletter published by the New York FIRST affiliate. Marcinko later lived in a home owned by Kamen in New Hampshire, and provided flying lessons for employees of Kamen’s private company, DEKA.
Marcinko said recently that Kamen was attempting to help her, and that he “should have the full support of the public, his board and the entire FIRST community.”
The Department of Justice files also contained emails between Epstein and a woman who has described herself as a victim of his abuse discussing an opportunity at FIRST.
“This weekend I am slotted to be on Dean's island, to continue where we left off,” the woman wrote to Epstein in July 2014. “I have my first meeting with the NY FIRST office tomorrow.”
The woman, whose name NHPR is withholding, appeared to be referring to North Dumpling Island, off the coast of Connecticut, which Kamen purchased in the 1980s. A spokesperson for Kamen said the interaction with the woman was a job interview.
An $84 million force in youth robotics
Kamen founded FIRST nearly three decades ago as a way to use robotics to teach science and engineering skills to school children. “I want to compete for the hearts and minds of kids with the excitement of the Super Bowl,” Kamen said at the time.
Over the years, he helped transform FIRST into an international event, with competitions attracting big-name political leaders, including Presidents George H.W. Bush and Barack Obama. In 2019, former Gov. Chris Sununu joined Kamen in Dubai for the FIRST Global robotics competition.
FIRST has also long attracted high-profile corporate support, including sponsorships by Apple, Google, Boeing, GM, LEGO and other global firms. Kamen told the website Inc. last year that 3.4 million children have been involved with FIRST since its inception. The group’s most recent tax filing shows it raised more than $84 million in revenues.
Schools across the United States have launched FIRST teams, where young people learn to build robots that can perform various tasks. In 2024, New Hampshire spent about a half million dollars to put a FIRST-created robotics kit in every school in the state. It was part of what Kamen has said is his next goal for FIRST: to expand it from an after-school competition to an essential classroom resource.
Even in Kamen’s absence, the organization says it plans to continue on that mission moving forward.
“The FIRST community is strong,” Leshin, the group’s board chair, said. “We will remain focused on our mission and on the millions of people around the world who have been inspired by FIRST’s transformative activities.”
