Lawrence Summers, the former Treasury secretary and president of Harvard University, has lost his affiliation with the National Bureau of Economic Research over his relationship with convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, the Wall Street Journal reported.
The economics organization told the Journal that an ad hoc committee reviewed Summers' conduct and recommended the termination.
Summers was a research associate with the NBER.
"He is no longer an NBER affiliate," wrote NBER president James Poterba in an email to the Journal.
The NBER is considered one of the premier research organizations for academic economists, the Journal said.
Many recent Nobel Prize-winning economists are affiliated with the organization.
Summers is listed as an author on 143 NBER working papers and other publications, many of which went on to be published in top economics journals, the Journal reported.
The release of Justice Department files related to the New York financier showed Summers had a long relationship with Epstein, even after he was convicted of soliciting a minor for prostitution.
Summers' ties to Epstein have forced him to resign from teaching and leadership positions at Harvard, and he was banned for life by the American Economic Association.
The emails include messages in which Summers appeared to be getting advice from Epstein about pursuing a romantic relationship with someone who viewed him as an "economic mentor."
"im a pretty good wing man, no?" Epstein wrote on Nov. 30, 2018.
The next day, Summers told Epstein he had texted the woman, telling her he "had something brief to say to her."
"Am I thanking her or being sorry re my being married. I think the former," he wrote.
Summers' wife, Elisa New, also emailed Epstein multiple times, including a 2015 message in which she thanked him for arranging financial support for a poetry project she directs.
The gift he arranged "changed everything for me," she wrote.
"It really means a lot to me, all financial help aside, Jeffrey, that you are rooting for me and thinking about me," she wrote.
The former Harvard president said he regrets his relationship with Epstein.
"I am deeply ashamed of my actions and recognize the pain they have caused," Summers said last year.
Associated Press contributed to this report.
Sam Barron ✉
Sam Barron has almost two decades of experience covering a wide range of topics including politics, crime and business.
© 2026 Newsmax. All rights reserved.