Overview

Gender

male

Investor Type

Angel

Larry Summers is an American economist.

He entered MIT at age 16, where he originally intended to study physics but soon switched to economics. He also attended Harvard University as a graduate student and, in 1983, at the age of 28, Summers became one of the youngest tenured professors in Harvard's history.

He served on the staff of the Council of Economic Advisers under President Reagan in 1982 and 1983 and also served as an economic adviser to the Dukakis Presidential campaign in 1988.The economist left Harvard in 1991 to serve as the Chief Economist for the World Bank, where he remained for two years.

In 1993, Summers was appointed Undersecretary for International Affairs and later in the U.S. Department of the Treasury under the Clinton Administration. In 1995, he was promoted to Deputy Secretary of the Treasury under his long-time political mentor Robert Rubin.

In 1999, he succeeded Rubin as Secretary of the Treasury, serving as the 71st Treasury Secretary from 1999 to 2001. When George W. Bush succeeded Clinton as president, Summers left the Treasury Department and returned to Harvard, becoming the university's as 27th President, serving from July 2001 until June 2006.

In 2009, Summers was named the Director of National Economic Council by President Barack Obama. Today, the economist is a special advisor to venture capital firm Andreessen Horowitz, serves on the board of directors for Square as well as Lending Club and is an advisor to The Minerva Project.