Larry Summers to Leave Harvard Amid Jeffrey Epstein Controversy

Larry Summers, the former Secretary of the U.S. Treasury, declared on Wednesday that he plans to resign his teaching position at Harvard University, effective at the conclusion of the academic year. This decision comes amid ongoing scrutiny concerning his previous ties to the late convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.

In his statement, Summers remarked, "I have made the difficult decision to retire from my Harvard professorship at the end of this academic year."

Since the publication of documents by the U.S. House Oversight Committee revealing personal communications between himself and Epstein, Summers has faced significant criticism. However, no evidence of any wrongdoing on his part has been uncovered.

In November, Summers had already distanced himself from his teaching duties and took a leave of absence from his leadership position at Harvard following the university's announcement of a review concerning individuals implicated in government-released Epstein-related documents.

A spokesperson from the university confirmed that the dean of Harvard Kennedy School has accepted Summers’ resignation from his role as co-director of the Mossavar-Rahmani Center for Business and Government. He will remain on leave until he officially retires from his academic and faculty positions at the academic year's end.

Furthermore, in November, Summers stepped down from his position on the board of OpenAI, the organization behind ChatGPT, closely following Harvard's review announcement. At that time, he expressed feelings of "deep shame" regarding his past actions and indicated he would withdraw from public duties to focus on mending relationships with those important to him.