Print

Mail

wiki links

Controversial Harvard president resigns

Lawrence Summers on Tuesday ended his tumultuous stint as Harvard University president, announcing he would resign on June 30 rather than fight with a faculty angered by his management style and comments that innate ability may explain why few women reach top science posts.

"I have reluctantly concluded that the rifts between me and segments of the Arts and Sciences faculty make it infeasible for me to advance the agenda of renewal that I see as crucial to Harvard's future," Summers wrote in a letter posted on the school's Web site.

Effective at the end of the academic year, Summers' move brings to a close the briefest tenure of any Harvard president since 1862, when Cornelius Felton died after two years in office. Summers has led the US' wealthiest university, with an endowment of more than US$25 billion, since 2001.

He became embroiled in several controversies early in his tenure, among them the departure of prominent black studies professors such as Cornel West -- who left after a falling out with the university president.

Last year's comments to an academic conference on women in science grew into a broader debate of Summers' management style, which some considered brusque and even bullying. He was also criticized by some for his handling of plans to expand Harvard's campus.

The discontent prompted a 218-185 no confidence vote from Harvard's Faculty of Arts and Sciences last March -- the only known instance of such an action in the 370-year history of the university.

Another no confidence vote was scheduled for next Tuesday. It was called following the resignation of Faculty of Arts and Sciences Dean William Kirby. Some faculty believe he was pushed out by Summers, though Kirby has said the decision was mutual.
This story has been viewed 1877 times.