Lawrence Summers Resigns Harvard Presidency. (February 23, 2006)

Javier Hernandez' account in The Crimson reads in part:

Summers’ resignation ended his fever-pitched fight with Faculty of Arts and Sciences (FAS) professors—a battle that was headed for a Feb. 28 showdown when the full Faculty was scheduled to consider a motion of no confidence in the president’s leadership.

Two events sparked the most recent round of rancor between Summers and FAS members. First, at the end of January, Faculty Dean William C. Kirby resigned amid reports in The Crimson that he was fired by Summers. Then, at a Feb. 7 meeting of the full Faculty, Summers said he was “not able to make any informed response” to questions about his role in a federal fraud scandal involving his longtime friend, Jones Professor of Economics Andrei Shleifer ’82.

Summers put resignation rumors to rest shortly after 1 p.m. yesterday, when he e-mailed the entire Harvard community to confirm that he would step down and that he plans to return as a professor in 2007.

    Professor Summers told Hernandez, "It looked to me like the magnitudes of the rifts with certain segments of the Faculty of Arts and Sciences faculty were at a level where I thought it would be very difficult for us to advance on a whole set of fronts."

When asked by Hernandez what one thing he would have done differently, Summers said, "I think I would have adapted my style in a way to build more collegial relations with the Faculty of Arts and Sciences group that emerged as my sharpest critics, without compromising on my commitment to strong renewal of what’s happening at the University."

In March 2001 the former Treasury Secretary was chosen as Harvard's 27^th president, replacing the retiring Neil Rudenstine, and given the brief by the Harvard Corporation to re-energize what it considered to be a complacent University.

Summers said he wanted to challenge a culture that allowed Harvard students to shrug off "the difference between a gene and a chromosome,"  signalling his active support for new science facilities and the establishment of cross-university programs such as the Broad Institute and the Harvard Stem Cell Institute.

He strongly pushed plans to establish a second campus across the Charles River in Allston, and last week, Harvard announced the site and architect of its first science building there.

In an egalitarian move Summers eliminated the required family financial contribution for undergraduates whose families earn less than $40,000.

But many of Summers' plans remain incomplete. His intention to reform undergraduate education with a review of the College's curriculum has stalled, principally perhaps because of his leadership style.

Summers in his general letter to Harvard's students and staff alluded to what may have been the principal substantive reason for his row with Harvard's faculties, "'Each Tub On Its Own Bottom' is a vivid, but limiting, metaphor for decision making at Harvard. We will not escape its limits unless our Schools and Faculties increase their willingness to transcend parochial interests in support of broader university goals."

His abrasive manner, his occasional bullying abuse of staff and his politically and biologically incorrect suggested explanation for why women don't move up the academic ladder, handed ammunition to those vehemently opposed to Summers' plans for more centralised governance of the university.

To bring his vision of the "new Harvard" to fruition, if it is to be realised, will require an individual of far greater diplomatic skills than Professor Summers is heir to.