It is the culmination of a process of removal that began after the revelation of correspondence which detail their close and prolonged relationship with late sex offender Jeffrey. Lawrence H. Summers, once one of the most influential figures in American economic policy in recent decades, has bowed to intense ethical and institutional pressure and confirmed that he will retire from his professorship at Harvard University at the end of the current academic year. The official announcement of his departure was made this Wednesday by the Reuters Agency.
In a statement, the former US Secretary of the Treasury and former president of Harvard said he had made the “difficult decision” to retire at a time when the university is conducting a rigorous ethical review of all faculty and collaborators named in Epstein’s files, recently made public by the U.S. House of Representatives Oversight Committee.
The End of an Era at Harvard
Summers’ departure isn’t just limited to the classroom. Jeremy Weinstein, dean of the Harvard Kennedy School, formally accepted Summers’ resignation as co-director of the Mossavar-Rahmani Center for Business and Government. According to Jason Newton, university spokesman, Summers will remain on leave until his effective retirement, scheduled for the summer of 2026.
While no evidence of criminal wrongdoing by Summers has emerged to date, the volume and nature of personal correspondence with Epstein has made his position within the institution he once presided over between 2001 and 2006 untenable.
A domino effect on OpenAI
This departure is the final chapter of a cascading fall. In November, shortly after Harvard’s internal review was announced, Summers had previously resigned his seat on the board of directors of OpenAI, the company behind ChatGPT.
At the time, the economist declared himself “deeply embarrassed” by his interactions with Epstein and announced his intention to back off from his public commitments to “repair the relationship with those closest to him”.
More than an individual casualty, the Epstein episode in the academic’s life is a strategic blow to the technology’s supervisory structure at a time of transition to a commercial model.
OpenAI faces a new challenge in its leadership structure following the forced departure of Larry Summers. The former US Treasury Secretary, who joined the council in November 2023 to bring stability after the crisis that involved Sam Altman, now leaves a void of institutional and political influence.
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