Nathan Cofnas (born 1986 or 1987) is an American postdoctoral researcher at Ghent University in Belgium. He is known for controversies surrounding his advocacy of scientific racism. Cofnas earned a doctorate from Oxford University in 2020 and, thereafter, a Leverhulme Trust research grant. He became an early-career research fellow at the University of Cambridge and research associate at Emmanuel College, Cambridge in 2022. Controversy developed after Cofnas published a 2024 blog post saying that black people are, on average, less intelligent than other groups, and that they "would disappear from almost all high-profile positions outside of sports and entertainment" under a meritocratic system. He was dismissed from his position at Emmanuel College as a result. In 2026, Cofnas secured a position at Ghent University. Following student protest and a petition calling for his dismissal, the university defended his appointment, citing academic freedom. Cofnas attracted further attention after publishing a blog post in which he catalogued multiple examples of alleged plagiarism by University of Cambridge sociologist Jason Arday, who was found dead soon after resigning from his post. On August 20, 2026, Cofnas was suspended from his position at Ghent University.
Early life and education Cofnas was born in Chicago, Illinois, in 1986 or 1987. He was raised Jewish and grew up in Manhattan. He developed an interest in hereditarianism when he was sixteen and taking courses at Columbia University. Also while a teenager, he developed an interest in debunking the work of anti-semitic conspiracy theorist and evolutionary psychology professor Kevin MacDonald; he said later that an academic mentor recommended he not write about it. Cofnas earned a BA from Columbia, then studied at Lingnan University in Hong Kong. He took a MPhil from Cambridge and a DPhil in philosophy from Oxford.
Academic career
Early career Cofnas wrote a book titled Reptiles with a Conscience: The Coevolution of Religious and Moral Doctrine, published in 2012 by Richard Lynn's Ulster Institute for Social Research, a British race and intelligence think tank. Cofnas later withdrew the book from publication, hoping to publish it in future work. In 2016, he attended the controversial London Conference on Intelligence. In 2018, Cofnas argued in Human Nature that Kevin MacDonald's work promoting antisemitic tropes relied upon "misrepresented sources and cherry-picked facts" and that the "evidence actually favors a simpler explanation of Jewish overrepresentation in intellectual movements involving Jewish high intelligence and geographic distribution." In 2019, Cofnas published a journal article in Philosophical Psychology arguing for the study of race and intelligence. Nine academics published a joint letter in Philosophical Psychology stating that his paper was not up to academic publishing standards, and was faulty in its methodology, in part by ignoring major studies that disproved his position. They also stated his paper had "racist ideological undertones" and "can reasonably be read as pandering to proponents of scientific racism". Philosophical Psychology editor Cees van Leeuwen later resigned over the controversy. Mitchell Herschbach, editor-in-chief of the journal, later published an editor's note recognizing flaws with the peer-review process that allowed Cofnas' paper to be published assuring that the journal will "implement procedural improvements so that, going forward, the journal better handles papers on controversial topics having sensitive moral and socio-political implications." In 2020 Cofnas published a review on the effects of a vegan diet on intelligence. He has argued it may have negative effects due to vitamin deficiencies.
Emmanuel College, Cambridge After receiving a Leverhulme Early Career Fellowship grant 2022, Cofnas became an early-career research fellow in the faculty of philosophy at Cambridge, where he taught philosophy of biology. He also became a research associate at Emmanuel College. Cofnas describes himself as a "race realist", a euphemism for a proponent of scientific racism. In a 2014 blog post, Cofnas had said that in a meritocratic system, black people "would disappear from almost all high-profile positions outside of sports and entertainment". Shortly after, a petition called for his firing and prompted investigations by the institutions associated with him. 58 Emmanuel students filed formal complaints against him. The investigations were opposed by prominent academics including Steven Pinker and Peter Singer on the grounds of freedom of speech. The University's investigation concluded that certain remarks in the blog post risked breaching its free speech policy, since they could encourage discrimination against black staff and students and might foster a racially hostile environment, though the University did not find that his conduct amounted to discrimination or harassment. Cofnas resigned his teaching and examining responsibilities after the backlash. Emmanuel College dismissed him, finding that his blog post amounted to a "rejection of diversity, equity, and inclusion" and was inconsistent with the college's mission. Cofnas, with support from the Free Speech Union and £85,000 in donations, sued Emmanuel College in August 2024 for belief discrimination over his dismissal. The court found his beliefs were legally protected but ruled the dismissal was proportionate, finding the blog post's impact had been "immediate and significant" and had caused harm and reputational damage. As of August 2026, he was appealing the decision.
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