Larry Summers Will Resign From Harvard Amid Epstein Fallout

Larry Summers, the embattled former Treasury secretary and Harvard president, is leaving his teaching post at the higher education institution at the end of the academic year, as the fallout over his relationship with Jeffrey Epstein continues to spill into public view.

“I have made the difficult decision to retire from my Harvard professorship,” Summers said in a statement Wednesday. “I will always be grateful to the thousands of students and colleagues I have been privileged to teach and work with since coming to Harvard as a graduate student 50 years ago.“

Summers took a step back from his teaching duties late last year — and also left his job as director of Harvard’s Mossavar-Rahmani Center for Business and Government — amid a review into his ties to the late convicted sex offender.

Harvard spokesperson Jason Newton confirmed in a statement that Summers would be retiring. The Harvard Crimson was first to report that Summers planned to retire.

Summers came under fire last November after a tranche of emails released by the House Oversight Committee revealed that he’d sought Epstein’s advice about pursuing a relationship with a mentee — among other communication — just before the financier’s 2019 arrest.

“I am deeply ashamed of my actions and recognize the pain they have caused,” Summers told POLITICO in November. “I take full responsibility for my misguided decision to continue communicating with Mr. Epstein.”

Summers was not accused of criminal wrongdoing in connection with Epstein.

Summers stepped back from his public commitments shortly after the emails were released, and left the board of the OpenAI Foundation several days later.