Lawrence H. Summers is the Charles W. Eliot University Professor at Harvard University. He served as the 27th president of Harvard University from July 2001 until June 2006. From 1999 to 2001 he served as the United States Secretary of the Treasury following his earlier service as Deputy and Under Secretary of the Treasury and as Chief Economist of the World Bank. Prior to his service in Washington, Summers was a professor of economics at Harvard and MIT. His research contributions were recognized when he received the John Bates Clark Medal, given every two years to the outstanding American economist under the age of 40 and when he was the first social scientist to receive the National Science Foundation’s Alan T. Waterman Award for outstanding scientific achievement. He is a member of the National Academy of Science. Lawrence Summers received his B.S. from MIT and his Ph.D. in economics from Harvard.

Among his other activities, Lawrence H. Summers writes a monthly column for the Financial Times, co-edits the Brookings Papers on Economic Activity and serves as a managing director of D.E. Shaw Group, a major alternative investment firm. He also serves on a number of not-for-profit and for-profit boards.