Lawrence Summers

Lawrence (Larry) Summers is a public figure who is often viewed as a subject matter expert in the field of economics. He has worked in an economic advisor capacity for several presidential administrations, including the Clinton and Obama administrations. Summers has also been associated with Harvard University for more than twenty years.

Summers was born to Robert Summers and Anita Arrow Summers. His father was a professor of economics, and his mother was a professor at Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania. He graduated high school early and started studying at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology at the age of sixteen. In 1975, he graduated with a bachelor of science degree. He went on to earn his Ph.D. from Harvard University in 1982.

Summers became the youngest tenured professor in Harvard history in 1983. He started working with politicians as an economic advisor in 1988, when he worked with Michael Dukakis during his presidential campaign. In 1991, he became chief economist of the World Bank, and by 1993, he was working with the president of the United States by serving in the Clinton Treasury Department.

Summers held a leadership position in an academic capacity when he was the president of Harvard from 2001 until 2006. He was forced out of that position after he delivered a sexist speech declaring that there are not more women in leadership positions in science fields because of "issues of intrinsic aptitude."

He also worked as the Director of the White House National Economic Council in the Obama Administration in 2009, and by 2011, Summers stopped working in government and returned to Harvard, where he is still a professor as of 2023.

Summers is and has been a member of various boards of directors, including Square, the Brookings Institution, the Broad Foundation, Teach for America, ONE Campaign, the Center on Global Development, the Institute for International Economics, and the Partnership for Public Service. On November 22, 2023, OpenAI announced that Summers would be joining its board of directors after a leadership reconfiguration.

Summers also acts as an advisor to several technology and investing companies, such as Jiko, PillPack, Andreessen Horowitz, and Digital Currency Group (DCG).