NBER Severs Ties with Summers Over Relationship with Epstein

The National Bureau for Economic Research has cut ties with former Harvard President Lawrence H. Summers over his relationship with convicted sex offender Jeffrey E. Epstein, NBER president James M. Poterba confirmed Monday night.

The decision makes the NBER — a national economic research organization with nearly 2,000 members — the latest institution to distance itself from the former Treasury Secretary as new disclosures continue to illuminate his long-running association with Epstein.

Reached by phone Monday night, Poterba declined to comment on how the decision was made but confirmed that Summers is no longer affiliated with the group.

Summers did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

The move comes amid escalating professional fallout for Summers following the release of Department of Justice records detailing years of contact with Epstein.

Late last month, Summers announced he would step down from his academic and faculty appointment at Harvard at the end of the academic year. He will also relinquish the title of University Professor, Harvard’s highest faculty distinction, bestowed to just 24 current professors.

Records released in November by the House Oversight Committee documented years of correspondence between the economist and the child predator, during which the two plumbed the depths of economics, politics, and romance. On various occasions, Summers solicited advice from Epstein about a relationship with a woman he described as a mentee.

By the end of November, Summers had stepped back from his teaching responsibilities and the University had launched a probe into affiliates’ ties to the disgraced financier. (The investigation was expanded in February after newly released files implicated a range of Harvard professors and donors).

At the same time, Summers stepped down from or was removed from a number of public roles, including positions with Bloomberg, OpenAI, the Center for American Progress, and the Group of 30. The American Economic Association — another prominent economics organization — followed suit, issuing a lifetime ban against Summers in December.

The Department of Justice has since released millions more documents under the Epstein Files Transparency Act, keeping public attention trained to an ever-expanding list of figures associated with the sex offender.

Among the records released in December was a 2014 copy of Epstein’s will naming Summers as a successor executor of his estate. A spokesperson for Summers said at the time that he had no knowledge of his inclusion in the will. Epstein’s final 2019 will makes no reference to Summers.

Several other Harvard affiliates have faced new or renewed scrutiny for their connections to Epstein. Mathematics professor Martin Nowak, who has long been associated with Epstein, was placed on paid administrative leave pending an internal Faculty of Arts and Sciences review into his conduct.

Nowak was previously flagged in a 2020 report into University ties to Epstein, and faced sanctions for his affiliation with the financier in 2021. The penalties were rolled back in 2023.

—Staff writer Hugo C. Chiasson can be reached at [email protected] or on Signal at hcc.35. Follow him on X @HugoChiassonn.

—Staff writer Elise A. Spenner can be reached at [email protected] or on Signal at elisespenner.82. Follow her on X @EliseSpenner.