Harvard University professor Larry Summers is taking leave while the school investigates his and others’ ties to the late sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, a spokesperson confirmed.
The former US Treasury Secretary and one-time Harvard president will stop teaching and step down as director of the Mossavar-Rahmani Center for Business and Government at the Harvard Kennedy School.
A spokesperson told the BBC’s US partner CBS News that Summers believed “it is in the centre’s best interests”.
Recently released emails indicate that Summers corresponded with Epstein up to a day before the financier’s 2019 arrest for alleged sex trafficking of minors.
In a statement to The Harvard Crimson, the university said it was “reviewing information related to individuals at Harvard included in the recently released Jeffrey Epstein documents”.
The BBC has contacted Summers for comment on Harvard’s new review.
On Tuesday, Summers addressed students in a class he taught at Harvard about his interactions with Epstein.
According to video recorded by a student, Summers told his students, “Some of you may have seen my statement of regret, in which I expressed my embarrassment with respect to what I did in my communications with Mr. Epstein. And I have said that I am going to step back from public activity.”
“I think it is very important to fulfill my teaching obligations. So with your permission, we will go ahead and talk about the material in class.”
But on Wednesday night, Summers spokesman Steven Goldberg said in a statement to CBS that “the co-teacher will complete the remaining three class sessions of the courses he taught with her this semester, and she has no plans to teach next semester.”
Public outcry for Summers began when Congress released more than 20,000 pages of documents from the so-called Epstein files last week, including numerous emails between Epstein and Summers.
The time stamps of the emails show the two chatted until the day before Epstein’s arrest — a decade after he pleaded guilty to soliciting prostitution from an underage girl.
Summers, a married father of six, messaged Epstein in November 2018 asking for romantic advice about his interest in someone he said he viewed as an “economics guru.”
In one exchange, Summers described himself as Summers’ “wing man”, writing, “Right now, I’m not going anywhere with him except to be an economics guru.”
“Am I thanking her or regretting being married? I think the former,” he wrote in another email.
The emails also indicated that Summers and Epstein frequently dined together, with Epstein often trying to connect Summers with prominent global figures.
No Epstein survivor has accused Summers of misconduct, and there is no publicly available evidence indicating that he was involved in any of Epstein’s crimes.
Summers announced earlier Wednesday that he was leaving OpenAI’s board, and the artificial intelligence company said it respects Summers’ decision to resign.
“We appreciate his many contributions and the perspective he brings to the board,” OpenAI said.
He joined the board of OpenAI, which creates ChatGPT, in 2023 – following a failed attempt to oust its chief executive Sam Altman.
Summers said in a statement to the BBC about the move that he was “grateful for the opportunity to serve, excited about the potential of the company, and look forward to following their progress”.
After the emails were shared with the public, Summers said he “takes full responsibility for my wrong decision to continue communicating with Mr. Epstein”.
He said he wanted to “restore trust and improve relationships with those closest to him”.
Summers served in senior positions under two Democratic presidents; Served as Treasury Secretary under Bill Clinton and Director of the National Economic Council under Barack Obama. He led Harvard from 2001 to 2006 and remains a professor there.
The Center for American Progress, a liberal think tank in Washington where Summers was a senior fellow, also confirmed that Summers is no longer affiliated with the organization.
Both houses of Congress agreed on Tuesday to pass a measure to require the US Justice Department to release its files on Epstein, setting up the potential release of thousands more documents.
President Donald Trump signed the bill on Wednesday, reversing his stance on the issue following protests from his supporters.