Lawrence Summers
Lawrence Summers 8th Director of the National Economic Council In office January 20, 2009 – December 31, 2010 Deputy Diana Farrell Jason Furman Preceded by Keith Hennessey Succeeded by Gene Sperling 27th President of Harvard University In office July 1, 2001 – June 20, 2006 Preceded by Neil Rudenstine Succeeded by Derek Bok (Acting) 71st Secretary of the Treasury of the United States In office July 2, 1999 – January 20, 2001 President Bill Clinton Preceded by Robert Rubin Succeeded by Paul O'Neill United States Deputy Secretary of the Treasury In office 1995–1999 President Bill Clinton Preceded by Frank Newman Succeeded by Stuart Eizenstat Chief Economist of the World Bank In office 1991–1993 Preceded by Stanley Fischer Succeeded by Michael Bruno Personal details Born Lawrence Henry Summers (1954-11-30) November 30, 1954 (age 60) New Haven, Connecticut, U.S. Political party Democratic Party Spouse(s) Victoria Perry (m. 1984 -2003, div.) Elisa New (2005–present) Alma mater Massachusetts Institute of Technology Harvard University Religion None Signature Lawrence Henry "Larry" Summers (born November 30, 1954) is an American economist who is President Emeritus and Charles W. Eliot University Professor of Harvard University. Born in New Haven, Connecticut, Summers became a professor of economics at Harvard University in 1983. He left Harvard in 1991, working as the Chief Economist at the World Bank from 1991 to 1993. In 1993, Summers was appointed Undersecretary for International Affairs of the United States Department of the Treasury under the Clinton Administration. In 1995, he was promoted to Deputy Secretary of the Treasury under his long-time political mentor Robert Rubin. In 1999, he succeeded Rubin as Secretary of the Treasury. While working for the Clinton administration Summers played a leading role in the American response to the 1994 economic crisis in Mexico, the 1997 Asian financial crisis, and the Russian financial crisis. He was also influential in the American advised privatization of the economies of the Post-Soviet states, and in the deregulation of the U.S financial system, including the abolishment of the Glass-Steagall Act. Following the end of Clinton's term, Summers served as the 27th President of Harvard University from 2001 to 2006. Summers resigned as Harvard's president in the wake of a no-confidence vote by Harvard faculty that resulted in large part from Summers's conflict with Cornel West, financial conflict of interest questions regarding his relationship with Andrei Shleifer, and a 2005 speech in which he suggested that the under-representation of women in science and engineering could be due to a "different availability of aptitude at the high end", and less to patterns of discrimination and socialization. After his departure from Harvard, Summers made millions as a managing partner at the hedge fund D. E. Shaw & Co., and by giving paid speeches to major financial institutions, including Goldman Sachs, JPMorgan Chase, Citigroup, Merrill Lynch and Lehman Brothers. Summers rejoined public service during the Obama administration, serving as the Director of the White House United States National Economic Council for President Barack Obama from January 2009 until November 2010, where he emerged as a key economic decision-maker in the Obama administration's response to the Great Recession. After his departure from the NEC in December 2010, Summers has worked in the private sector and as a columnist in major newspapers. In mid-2013, his name was widely floated as the potential successor to Ben Bernanke as the Chairman of the Federal Reserve, though after pushback from the left, Obama eventually nominated Federal Reserve Vice-Chairwoman Janet Yellen for the position.