The Journal Article
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Summers to Quit Harvard Presidency
By DANIEL GOLDEN and ZACHARY M. SEWARD
February 21, 2006; Page A3
Lawrence H. Summers, losing a power struggle with faculty after a turbulent five years as president of Harvard University, is expected to resign this week.
Two people familiar with the situation said last night that the former U.S. Treasury secretary is expected to announce his resignation in advance of a faculty vote a week from today on a motion of no confidence in his leadership. It's unclear what plan Harvard may have for naming a successor or when Mr. Summers's resignation will take effect.
Backing for Mr. Summers from Harvard's seven-member governing board, known as the Corporation, has eroded in recent weeks in the face of renewed criticism from many arts and sciences faculty members, the people familiar with the matter said. Former U.S. Treasury Secretary Robert Rubin, a Corporation member who pushed for Mr. Summers's appointment in 2001, remains a supporter and was making calls on his behalf to at least one key Harvard official last week, one person familiar with the situation said. Several board members, including former Duke University president Nannerl Keohane and Urban Institute president Robert Reischauer, have been interviewing deans, faculty members and alumni in recent weeks about Mr. Summers's performance.
Mr. Summers and Corporation members couldn't be reached for comment. A Harvard spokesman declined to comment.
Mr. Summers's supporters, and even some of his detractors, say they are worried it will be difficult for Harvard to find a strong successor now that the faculty has demonstrated its clout. His propensity for controversial comments on educational and national issues was regarded by admirers as a welcome change from other college presidents who devote themselves primarily to fund raising. His resignation could renew concerns about whether presidents of elite universities can use their "bully pulpit" as they once did to express opinions on vital issues without risking their positions.
Mr. Summers's resignation would end the shortest stint of any Harvard president since Cornelius Felton died in 1862 after two years in office. The Corporation selected Mr. Summers, a renowned economist, as a strong leader who would assert his authority over entrenched fiefdoms. His achievements include establishing an institute on stem-cell research, increasing faculty size and expanding Harvard's campus.
However, a number of his initiatives, including curriculum reform, have bogged down. His brusque management style and sometimes outspoken views have offended faculty members and led to turnover among deans.
Arts and sciences faculty members voted no confidence in Mr. Summers last year after he gave a talk suggesting that innate gender differences might account for the relative scarcity of women with high-level academic careers in science and math. Faculty critics this year began assailing him on matters varying from the resignation of a key dean to the lack of any university discipline meted out to economics professor Andrei Shleifer, a close friend of the president. Last year, Harvard and Mr. Shleifer settled a civil suit brought by the federal government, stemming from allegations that he had violated conflict-of-interest rules by investing in financial markets in Russia while heading a foreign-aid program there.>>
