Lawrence H. Summers, Harvard University's former president and ex-U.S. Treasury secretary, announced Wednesday he will resign from his teaching and faculty positions at the end of the academic year.

Summers, who has served as president emeritus and professor at the Kennedy School of Government, has been on leave since November and will not return to teaching or take new advisees. He also resigned as co-director of the Mossavar-Rahmani Center for Business and Government.

The move follows Harvard's ongoing review of documents released by the Department of Justice related to Jeffrey Epstein, the financier convicted in 2008 of procuring a minor for prostitution, who died by suicide in 2019. The files show Summers' name appearing hundreds of times and reveal years of personal correspondence between the two men, even after Epstein's conviction.

Emails exchanged in 2018 and 2019 depict Summers consulting Epstein on a romantic interest with a woman he tutored in economics, whom Epstein called his 'wing man' for. Summers noted in one message that he had a 'very good life' with his wife of 20 years, but risked it for something uncertain. Other exchanges covered politics, the economy, and included Summers using a racial slur in reference to a Chinese university official. They visited each other's homes in Massachusetts and New York.

In a statement, Summers described the decision as difficult and expressed gratitude to students and colleagues over his 50 years at Harvard, including five as president from 2001 to 2006. 'Free of formal responsibility, as president emeritus and a retired professor, I look forward in time to engaging in research, analysis, and commentary on a range of global economic issues,' he said.

Harvard spokesman Jason Newton confirmed the resignation is connected to the Epstein document review. Previously, Summers called his Epstein association a 'major error in judgment' and expressed 'great regret.' In November, he said he was 'deeply ashamed' and paused public engagements.

The fallout extends beyond Harvard. Summers was banned for life from the American Economic Association in December and resigned from the OpenAI board and Santander advisory board. Epstein donated over $9 million to Harvard before a 2020 report disciplined a professor for accepting funds, though it did not address Summers.

The Epstein files have prompted other academic resignations. Columbia Nobel laureate Richard Axel stepped down Tuesday as co-director of the Zuckerman Mind Brain Behavior Institute, citing his Epstein ties as a 'serious error.' Bard College President Leon Botstein faces review, and Yale's David Gelernter paused teaching.