Lawrence Summers Will Resign From Harvard After Epstein Revelations [View all]

https://www.nytimes.com/2026/02/25/us/larry-summers-resignation-harvard-epstein.html

Lawrence Summers Will Resign From Harvard After Epstein Revelations

Mr. Summers, former president of the school, had stepped back from teaching after documents showed a closer relationship to Jeffrey Epstein than previously known. He will leave at the end of the academic year.


Lawrence H. Summers, a Harvard University economist and the school’s former president, will resign from teaching at the end of the academic year, according to a Harvard spokesman.

The announcement comes months after documents released by the Department of Justice showed a close relationship between Mr. Summers and Jeffrey Epstein long after Mr. Epstein was convicted of prostitution involving a minor.

Mr. Summers, who has been on leave since November, will not return to teaching before he leaves the university. He has also resigned as co-director of the Mossavar-Rahmani Center for Business and Government, the spokesman said. His resignation comes “in connection with the ongoing review by the University of documents related to Jeffrey Epstein that were recently released by the government,” the spokesman, Jason Newton, said in a statement.

The announcement was first reported by The Harvard Crimson, the student newspaper.

Harvard also confirmed Wednesday that Martin A. Nowak, a professor of mathematics and of biology, who has a long documented history with Mr. Epstein, has been placed on administrative leave “pending further investigation by the Faculty of Arts and Sciences.”