Larry Summers will resign from his position as Harvard professor at the end of the current academic year, marking another significant departure linked to the Jeffrey Epstein scandal. The former Harvard president and Treasury Secretary stepped back from teaching last fall after court documents revealed a closer relationship with the convicted sex offender than previously disclosed.
Harvard has grappled with the Epstein controversy since 2019, when the financier's arrest on federal sex trafficking charges first exposed his extensive network of academic connections. The university faced intense scrutiny over accepting at least $9.2 million in donations from Epstein between 1998 and 2007. Critics questioned how Harvard allowed Epstein continued access to campus facilities and faculty even after his 2008 conviction for soliciting prostitution from a minor.
The latest revelations about Summers emerged from a trove of court documents released in recent months as part of ongoing litigation related to Epstein's crimes. These files showed email exchanges between Summers and Epstein that contradicted the former Harvard president's earlier characterizations of their relationship as minimal. The correspondence revealed discussions about academic matters, university business, and what appeared to be regular communication over several years.
Summers served as Harvard's president from 2001 to 2006, a tenure marked by controversies including controversial comments about women in science that ultimately led to his resignation. He later served as director of the National Economic Council under President Obama from 2009 to 2010. His connection to Epstein dated back to the 1990s, when both men moved in similar academic and financial circles.
The resignation represents the most prominent academic casualty of the Epstein scandal since MIT Media Lab director Joi Ito stepped down in 2019. Other institutions, including MIT and the University of Pennsylvania, have conducted internal reviews of their Epstein connections and implemented new policies governing donor relationships. Several faculty members at various universities have faced scrutiny or lost positions due to their associations with the convicted sex offender.
Harvard President Claudine Gay has not publicly commented on Summers' departure, but the university has previously acknowledged it "made mistakes" in its relationship with Epstein. The institution returned $200,000 in unspent Epstein donations in 2019 and established new protocols for vetting major donors. However, critics argue these measures came too late and were insufficient given the scope of the university's entanglement with Epstein.
The continuing fallout demonstrates how elite academic institutions are still reckoning with the full extent of Epstein's influence years after his death in federal custody. Universities face growing pressure to conduct thorough reviews of past relationships and implement stronger safeguards against similar situations in the future.