Former Harvard University President Larry Summers relinquishes professorship over Epstein files scandal

Larry Summers, a former President of Harvard University and current Charles W. Eliot University Professor at Harvard Kennedy School, has resigned from his position after his name appeared in the latest release of files involving the convicted paedophile, Jeffrey Epstein.

Summers will "resign from his academic and faculty appointments at Harvard at the end of the academic year, relinquishing his University Professorship — Harvard’s highest faculty distinction — and remaining on leave until that time", a Harvard spokesperson confirmed to The Harvard Crimson, the university student newspaper, on 24/02/2026.

He also resigned from his role as co-director of the Mossavar-Rahmani Centre for Business and Government at the Harvard Kennedy School, a post which he had held since 2011.

The Epstein files showed that the sex offender and Summers had had a relationship from 2012 to 2019.

Hundreds of emails between the two men were first unveiled in November 2025, revealing discussions about politics, personal life and Harvard. After this, Summers stepped back from public commitments but continued…