Harvard University's president, buffeted by controversy surrounding his leadership and views on academia, announced today that he will resign at the end of this academic year.
Lawrence Summers' announcement comes one week before the Harvard faculty was scheduled to decide whether to hold a vote of no-confidence in Summers for the second time since his inauguration in 2001.
The Harvard community received an e-mail this afternoon with the announcement, and Summers' official notice of resignation was made available through Harvard's Web site.
In the notice, Summers cited "rifts between me and segments of the Arts and Sciences faculty" as the driving force behind his decision.
Summers' brother Richard, a Psychiatry professor at Penn, said that Summers had "a lot of vision" and that he was upset by the situation.
"I'm sad for him and I'm sad for Harvard," Richard Summers said. "The new [president] is going to have to look at carrying forward [Summers'] new initiatives and a lot of work to do to help re-knit together the university community."
Until a replacement is chosen, former Harvard president Derek Bok will serve as interim president.
Although the official announcement was made today, there had been speculation over the past few days that Summers would step down, according to Julie Schafer, a staff member in Harvard's physics department.
The last time the Harvard faculty passed a no-confidence motion on Summers -- a symbolic vote expressing dissatisfaction in his leadership but carrying no formal power -- it followed the embattled president's infamous remark that "intrinsic aptitude" might explain why fewer women than men work in the sciences.
Many members of the Harvard faculty have publicly criticized Summers' performance, and had been pushing for another no-confidence vote during the last few months.
Harvard history professor Patrice Higonnet said that although he hadn't been pleased with Summers' performance, the final reasons behind his resignation were only one aspect of Summers' troubled relationship with the university.
"His personal relations had become quite bad with many members of the faculty, but it's too bad that he became forced out because of that issue," Higonnet said.
"I think Lawrence Summers had an idea of what Harvard should be and I did not think that that idea was sufficient," he added.
Summers has yet to announce his plans for the immediate future, but his brother said that the beleaguered president is evaluating several options.
According to a statement released by the Harvard Fellows, the university's governing board, Summers plans to take a year-long sabbatical and is expected to return as "one of Harvard's select group of University Professors."
The University professorship is Harvard's most distinguished teaching position.
In the meantime, the university will be faced with the task not only of finding a new president but of restoring the faculty's confidence in the administration as well, education experts say.
Erling Boe, a professor at Penn's Graduate School of Education, said that despite the attention Harvard has received, he believes the university will recover quickly.
"Harvard is large, established, well-funded, and it has an academic administration in place. ... I expect it to just continue rolling on," Boe said.
Penn President Amy Gutmann did not issue a comment on Summers' resignation, except to say that she believed that Harvard would remain a top school.
