Short Answer
Lawrence “Larry” Summers served as president of Harvard University from 2001 to 2006, the period during which Epstein made his most significant donations to the university. Summers met with Epstein and has acknowledged those meetings while stating he had no knowledge of Epstein’s criminal behavior.
In Detail
Harvard Donations During Summers’s Tenure
Epstein donated approximately $6.5 million to Harvard University, primarily during and after Summers’s presidency. The most notable gift was $3.5 million to support research through the Program for Evolutionary Dynamics, led by Martin Nowak. Epstein had a personal interest in evolutionary biology and used the Harvard connection extensively to burnish his scientific credentials.
Summers’s Meetings with Epstein
Summers met with Epstein on multiple occasions, a fact confirmed in subsequent reporting and acknowledged by Summers himself. The nature and frequency of these meetings became a source of controversy after Epstein’s arrest in 2019 and again during the MIT Media Lab scandal.
The Institutional Response
Harvard’s acceptance of Epstein donations during and after his 2008 sex offender conviction drew criticism from faculty and students. Unlike MIT, Harvard did not initially conduct an immediate public investigation, a stance that drew additional scrutiny. Harvard eventually announced it would review the history of Epstein donations.
Summers’s Statements
Summers has publicly stated he regrets his association with Epstein and that he had no awareness of Epstein’s crimes. He has noted that at the time of their meetings, Epstein’s conviction was widely reported but not fully understood as representing the scope of abuse later revealed.
Economic Career
Beyond his Harvard role, Summers served as U.S. Secretary of the Treasury from 1999 to 2001 and as Director of the National Economic Council under President Obama from 2009 to 2010. His prominence in both finance and academia made Epstein’s cultivation of the relationship strategically significant.