Former US Treasury Secretary Larry Summers quits Harvard after emails reveal extensive communications with convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein
NEW YORK: Former US Treasury Secretary Larry Summers has resigned from his teaching post at Harvard University over his links to convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.
The Ivy League institution confirmed the move on Wednesday, stating that Harvard Kennedy School Dean Jeremy Weinstein had accepted Summers’ resignation from his leadership role.
Summers was co-director of the Mossavar-Rahmani Center for Business and Government at the university’s Kennedy School.
“Harvard Kennedy School Dean Jeremy Weinstein has accepted Professor Lawrence H. Summers’ resignation from his leadership position,” the university said in a statement, noting the move was linked to the Epstein case.
The university added that Summers would retire from all his academic appointments at the end of the current academic year.
The resignation follows the release of Department of Justice files showing extensive exchanges between Summers and the now deceased financier.
In a viral video clip, Summers expressed regret to his students over his ties to Epstein.
“You will have seen my statement of regret expressing my shame with respect to what I did in communication with Mr Epstein,” he said.
In November 2025, Summers said he was “stepping back” from public commitments after Congress released emails showing close communication.
“I take full responsibility for my misguided decision to continue communicating with Mr Epstein,” Summers said at the time in a statement to US media.
Summers also previously resigned from the board of the OpenAI foundation over the disclosures.
Epstein cultivated a global network of powerful politicians, business executives, academics and celebrities.
He made USD 9.1 million in donations to Harvard University between 1998 and 2008, according to the institution.
A number of prominent Americans have had their reputations damaged by their associations with Epstein.
Former president Bill Clinton is scheduled to testify before a congressional committee on Epstein on Friday.
His wife, former secretary of state Hillary Clinton, will appear before the committee on Thursday.
No one other than Epstein’s ex-girlfriend Ghislaine Maxwell has faced legal consequences in the United States in connection with the case.
