Brown University trustee resigns over divestment vote

PROVIDENCE, R.I. (WLNE) — Joseph Edelman, a trustee of the Brown Corporation and hedge fund manager, publicly resigned from his Brown post Sunday, according to the Brown Daily Herald. 

Edelman was the chief executive officer of biotechnology investment firm Perceptive Advisors and a graduate of UC San Diego.

He joined the board in 2019 with a projected six-year term.

His profile and information have now been removed from the Brown Corporation’s website, according to The Herald.

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 further states in his letter:

“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. 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 was one of the biggest donors to the University.