Former Clinton official to quit Harvard University position amid backlash for Epstein ties

Larry Summers, an economist and former treasury secretary, announced that he is stepping away from his role as a tenured professor at Harvard University following criticism for his association with convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.

In November, a document dump of 20,000 pages revealed that Summers communicated with Epstein in 2018 and 2019, including within weeks of Epstein’s arrest, the Wall Street Journal reported.

'I have made the difficult decision to retire from my Harvard professorship at the end of this academic year.'

Epstein described himself as Summers’ “wing man” in one email. Summers and his wife reportedly briefly visited Epstein’s island during their 2005 honeymoon.

Summers served as the treasury secretary under former President Bill Clinton from 1999 to 2001. He was also the director of the National Economic Council under former President Barack Obama. Summers held a position as the president of Harvard University from 2001 to 2006.

Shortly after his messages with Epstein came to light, Summers lost his partnerships and positions with several organizations, including the New York Times, the Center for American Progress, BloombergTV, and the Yale Budget Lab. He also resigned from his seat on the OpenAI board.

RELATED: Epstein emails SHAME Obama/Clinton ally: Larry Summers quits public life amid calls for Harvard to cut ties

Larry Summers. Photo by Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images

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

Summers held onto his teaching and leadership positions at Harvard University amid the fallout. However, he has been on leave since November.

Summers announced Wednesday that he would retire at the end of the academic year.

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Photo by Scott Eisen/Getty Images

“I have made the difficult decision to retire from my Harvard professorship at the end of this academic year,” Summers said. “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.”

“Free of formal responsibility, as President Emeritus and a retired professor, I look forward in time to engaging in research, analysis, and commentary on a range of global economic issues,” he added.

A spokesperson for Harvard told the WSJ that the school had accepted Summers’ resignation “in connection with the ongoing review by the university of documents related to Jeffrey Epstein that were recently released by the government.”

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