Prominent economist and former US treasury secretary Larry Summers is stepping away from his positions at Harvard University while the institution investigates his relationship with convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.
Immediate Leave from Academic Roles
Summers will immediately cease teaching at Harvard and take leave from his directorship at the Mossavar-Rahmani Center for Business and Government, according to a statement from his spokesperson Steven Goldberg on Wednesday. The decision comes just days after Summers initially stated he would only step back from public commitments while continuing his teaching duties.
The Harvard Kennedy School professor, who has led the Mossavar-Rahmani Center since 2011, will not teach next semester. His current semester classes will be taken over by co-instructors.
Email Revelations Prompt Review
The investigation was triggered by recently released emails from the US House oversight committee that revealed Summers maintained contact with Epstein until shortly before the financier's arrest in July 2019. The correspondence indicated a friendly relationship spanning several years, with messages showing Summers seeking Epstein's advice on personal matters.
In one particularly revealing 2018 exchange, Epstein referred to himself as Summers' "wingman" regarding romantic advice about a woman Summers described as his mentee. These communications have raised serious questions about the nature and extent of their association.
Wider Consequences and Resignations
In addition to his Harvard roles, Summers resigned from the board of artificial intelligence company OpenAI on Wednesday, marking another significant professional departure linked to the Epstein controversy.
Harvard University has initiated a formal review process examining Summers' connections to Epstein, who died in prison in 2019 while facing sex trafficking charges. The university's investigation will scrutinise the timeline and nature of their relationship, particularly given Epstein's established notoriety during the period these communications occurred.
The Harvard Crimson student newspaper first broke the story about Summers' decision to step back from his university positions. Goldberg confirmed that Summers believes leaving his roles is "in the best interest of the center" while Harvard conducts its review.
