Larry Summers

Timeline

1. 1954–1982

   MIT and a Harvard PhD

   Born in New Haven, Connecticut, in 1954, he enters MIT at 16, switches from mathematics to economics and graduates in 1975. He earns his PhD at Harvard in 1982 under Martin Feldstein.

2. 1983–1987

   A Harvard professorship at 28

   He serves as an assistant and associate professor at MIT, and in 1983, at age 28, he becomes one of the youngest tenured professors in Harvard's history. In 1987, Harvard names him Nathaniel Ropes Professor of Political Economy, and he becomes the first social scientist to win the National Science Foundation's Alan T. Waterman Award.

3. 1991–1993

   Chief economist at the World Bank

   In 1991, he takes leave from Harvard to become chief economist and vice president of development economics at the World Bank, where his work includes a report showing high returns from educating girls in developing nations. He wins the American Economic Association's John Bates Clark Medal in 1993.

4. 1993–2001

   Secretary of the Treasury

   He moves to the U.S. Treasury in 1993 as under secretary for international affairs and becomes deputy secretary in 1995. In 1999, he succeeds Robert Rubin as the 71st Secretary of the Treasury under President Bill Clinton, serving until 2001.

5. 2001–2006

   President of Harvard

   Harvard appoints him its 27th president in March 2001, and he leads the university from 2001 to 2006. In January 2005, his remarks at a National Bureau of Economic Research conference on why women may be underrepresented in tenured science and engineering positions spark controversy. After a sabbatical, he becomes Charles W. Eliot University Professor, with offices at the Kennedy School of Government and Harvard Business School.

6. 2009–2010

   Director of the National Economic Council

   From January 2009 to November 2010, he directs the White House National Economic Council for President Barack Obama and helps design the stimulus policies used to revive the U.S. economy after the Great Financial Crisis. He then resumes his tenured Harvard professorship and advises Citigroup and the NASDAQ OMX Group.

7. November 2023–November 2025

   A seat on OpenAI's board

   In November 2023, after Sam Altman's brief ouster as CEO, he joins OpenAI's new initial board with chair Bret Taylor and Adam D'Angelo. He compares ChatGPT to the printing press and electricity and predicts that it will come for the cognitive class, making higher-skilled jobs obsolete first. In November 2025, he resigns from the board after House Republicans release years of his correspondence with Jeffrey Epstein.

8. Since 2026

   Retiring from Harvard

   He goes on leave from teaching at Harvard in November 2025. In February 2026, he announces plans to retire from his Harvard professorship at the end of the academic year and resigns as co-director of the Mossavar-Rahmani Center for Business and Government. As President Emeritus and a retired professor, he plans research, analysis and commentary on global economic issues.