Former Harvard University president and economist Larry Summers will resign from his teaching role at the end of the academic year, just months after his relationship with Jeffrey Epstein was revealed through a federal document disclosure.
Summers has been on leave from the school since November, and will not be returning to the university before his final day, according to the New York Times.
The economist has also resigned from his role as co-director of the Mossava-Rahmani Center for Business and Government, according to a Harvard spokesperson.
Jason Newton, the spokesperson, confirmed to the Times that Summers’ 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 news of Summers’ resignation was first reported in The Harvard Crimson, the school’s newspaper.
Summers issued a statement saying he has made the “difficult decision” to retire, and added that he will “always be grateful to the thousands of students and colleagues I have been privileged to reach and work with since coming to Harvard as a graduate student 50 years ago.”
He said that he will now look forward to “engaging in research, analysis and commentary on a range of global economic issues.”
Summers’ links to Epstein weren’t unknown, but his closeness to accused child sex trafficker only became clear after the federal government released a trance of Epstein’s emails in November.
The documents capture private moments between the men, including friendly banter about a Summer’s alleged romantic interest in a woman who was not his wife. Elsewhere, Epstein described himself as Summers’ “wingman.”
The men were having conversations as recently as 2019, more than a decade after Epstein pleaded guilty to soliciting sex from a child. Summers’ and Epstein’s correspondence continued until July 5, 2019, just a day before Epstein was arrested and charged with child sex trafficking, NBC News reports.
The Independent has requested comment from Summers.
Harvard has launched an investigation into its own ties to Epstein, including a review of both donors and employees who might have been close to the disgraced financier.
The university launched a similar probe in 2020, which reportedly turned up only one explicit reference to Mr Summers. The report found that Summers had helped start a program pitched by Epstein.
