Larry Summers, former Secretary of the Treasury, President Emeritus and Professor at Harvard University, attends the Allen & Company Sun Valley Conference on July 9, 2025 in Sun Valley, Idaho.
Kevin Dietch | Getty Images
Former U.S. Treasury Secretary Larry Summers, who has clung to his past friendship with Jeffrey Epstein, announced Wednesday that he will resign from his teaching position at Harvard University by the end of this year.
Mr. Summers previously served as president of Harvard University.
His resignation comes as the university investigates emails and other documents detailing Summers’ relationship with Epstein that the Justice Department and Congress released in recent months.
“I have made the difficult decision to retire from my professorship at Harvard University at the end of this year,” Summers said in a statement obtained by CNBC. “I will always be grateful to the thousands of students and colleagues I have had the privilege of teaching and working with since I came to Harvard as a graduate student 50 years ago.”
“Without formal responsibilities, I look forward to continuing to engage in research, analysis, and commentary on a variety of global economic issues, both as president emeritus and as a former professor,” he said.
Mr. Summers took a leave of absence from Harvard University in November as a result of these emails, but has not been charged with any wrongdoing related to Mr. Epstein. He will not teach or take on new advice until his retirement is effective.
“In connection with the university’s ongoing investigation of documents related to Jeffrey Epstein recently released by the government, Harvard Kennedy School Dean Jeremy Weinstein has accepted Professor Lawrence H. Summers’ resignation from his leadership position as co-director of the Mossavar Rahmani Center for Business and Government,” Harvard spokesperson Jason Newton told CNBC in a statement Wednesday.
“Professor Summers has announced that he will resign from his academic and faculty positions at Harvard University at the end of this academic year and will take a leave of absence until then,” Newton said.
In November, when he took a leave of absence from Harvard University and resigned from the board of artificial intelligence company OpenAI, Summers said: “I am deeply ashamed of my actions and recognize the pain they have caused. I take full responsibility for my wrong decision to continue communicating with Mr. Epstein.”
His statement followed a report in Harvard University’s student newspaper, the Crimson, detailing how Summers sought guidance from Epstein while pursuing romantic relationships with women.
Nobel Prize-winning scientist Richard Axel announced Tuesday that he is stepping down as co-director of Columbia University’s Zuckerman Institute for Mind, Brain, and Behavior in light of the high profile of his interactions with Epstein.
Yale University, the No. 3 Ivy League school, announced on February 11 that it had banned Professor David Gelernter from teaching computer science pending an investigation into his contacts with Epstein. That included mentioning Yale University students about potential projects.
Other celebrities have recently suffered professional and legal damage due to their relationships with Epstein, which are detailed in the Justice Department’s document database.
Epstein committed suicide in a federal prison in New York City in 2019, weeks after he was arrested on child sex trafficking charges.
