Former critics praise Summers' appointment to Obama's economic team
By Tracy Jan, Globe Staff
They're moving on.
Even some of Lawrence Summers' harshest critics during his stormy five-year tenure as Harvard University's president applauded today's announcement that Summers would become a chief economic adviser to President Obama.
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"It's time to put the past behind us and support Summers in a really critical position," said Kay Kaufman Shelemay, a professor of music and of African and African American studies who had criticized Summers' leadership. "I will sleep better at night knowing that he is watching out for my 401(k)."
Summers, according to nearly a dozen faculty interviewed this afternoon, has acknowledged his mistakes at Harvard and learned from them. He currently is a professor at Harvard's Kennedy School.
"Larry is sorry. If anything, he'd be far more sensitive in relating to women now," said sociology professor Orlando Patterson.
In his most publicized faux pas, Summers sparked international outrage by speculating during a 2005 economics conference that intrinsic aptitude might help explain the under-representation of women in science and engineering at top universities and research institutions. He later apologized, and established two task forces on the training, recruitment and advancement of women at Harvard.
But those remarks lead to an outpouring of faculty complaints about what his detractors called his aggressive management style.
Some said Summers browbeat popular African American studies professor Cornel West and ultimately drove him away to Princeton. Others chided him for disrespecting those who disagreed with him by rolling his eyes during meetings.
"He lacked the manners to run Harvard and his interactions with people, which was an important part of that job, left much to be desired," Patterson said.
Some faculty were also angered over what they perceived as Summers' support of his friend and star economics professor Andrei Shleifer after a federal judge ruled in 2004 that Shleifer had conspired to defraud the US government by making personal investments in Russia that conflicted with his government consulting contract to advise Russia. Harvard paid the government $26.5 million to settle the case. Summers has said he recused himself from the case.
Under pressure from mounting criticism, Summers resigned as president in 2006.
All that, now, is in the past and should not haunt him in his new role, Patterson and others said. Long-rumored to be in the running for Treasury secretary, a role that he had served under President Clinton, Summers, 53, is a better fit as head of the National Economic Council, they said.
"I think it's very smart not to put him in the Treasury, which is a more public role and more symbolically important for people who may have concerns about Larry's past,'' Patterson said.
But that's of little comfort to one vocal detractor.
Nancy Hopkins, a biology professor at MIT who had walked out in protest during Summers' talk on women and science, said she remains worried by Summers' "pattern of bad judgement and failure to listen."
"This is a man who brought Harvard to a standstill by not one speech, but by a series of actions," Hopkins said. "So I am concerned, not to mention slightly insulted" by his new appointment.
At Harvard, though, collegiality seems to have trumped any lingering sour grapes. His experience as Treasury secretary and understanding of the economic crisis, not his abbreviated Harvard presidency, is more relevant to his job in Obama's administration, other faculty said.
"Even Summers' critics have to acknowledge that he's a brilliant technical economist, and probably better suited for this role than anyone in the country," said Steven Pinker, a Harvard psychology professor and a supporter of Summers. "He's still, of course, the victim of smears. But with the well-being of hundreds of millions of people at stake, now is not the time to pursue academic vendettas."
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Good for Larry Summers. Academia is full of thin-skinned shrill ideologues. Good thing he is on to bigger things.
Prof. Hopkins, you sound a little... small in this article.
Let it go.
At the risk of dumping on the parade, Mr. Summers is not a team player and is the last person one would want working to coordinate the economic stimulus plan between the WH and Congress. Talk about a bull in a China Shop! Also, one might sympathize with the outstanding female professionals on the team who have to deal with the Summers mindset. What professional activities, therapy sessions or other activities can we point to that support the facile statements of support for this appointment. Bostons gain is Washington's loss.
You know Professor Hopkins...a little growing up on your part would be a big help here. You have no basis for being insulted. Actually, you have no basis for even expressing an opinion on an appointment by the President of the US...you are in no position to judge his competence or his capacity to contribute. I think I'll leave that decision up to Obama. You...should go find a nice therapist. Or perhaps visit your current therapist more often.
So Professor Kay Kaufman Shelemay was happy to help force Larry Summers out of his position at Harvard but will feel good about him being in a governmental position overseeing the health of her 401K??????????? As a coworker of mine from Maine used to say "book smart but not a lick of common sense". This has to be one of the most foolish things I have ever read and can only be reflective of the arrogance of the Harvard elite. Not good enough for Harvard but he is capable of overseeing the United States economy.
The only mistake Summers made was apologizing. The comments of the Harvard "elite" just serve to prove it.
Trent, I think what Professor Kay Kaufman Shelemay meant was that Summers is better suited at his new position than running Harvard. There is nothing reflective of arrogance in that statement, just a fact of life. You don't ask a soldier to do a policeman's work, and vice versa. Recognizing that subtle but critically important distinction is the mark of a first rate intelligence which Professor Shelemay clearly posesses.
Sorry kids but Summers is a complete jerk. He hates women and degrades all those who are in his vicinity. And, for some reason, he prefers doing it in public. I hope all you defending him and spouting off on Hopkins get a boss just like him - you deserve it. Summers is smart, no question, but he's the one who "just doesn't get it." I certainly hope he gets his comeuppance in DC - a dose of humility will do him and our country a world of good.
Funny how all the Obama supporters in academe, who once upon a time couldn't stomach the sight or sound of Larry Summers, and who thought he represented a point of view so damaging to women that he must be removed from a leadership position, suddenly find that he's just a wonderful selection for about the most prominent position an economist can occupy.
The mystic powers of KoolAid impress me more every day.
I hope, for the sake of these toadies, that hypocrisy is not fatal, and, for their families, that it is not contagious.
Could it be that they're just happy to get him out of Cambridge for a while?
Oh, and just one other point.
Don't you think a real journalist might ask the obvious question: are these "critics" of Summers dyed-in-the-wool Obama supporters? Might that explain their sudden "change of heart" over Summers?
Of course this is the MSM, of which the Globe is an example as embarrassing as one can find -- the examination of the most obvious kinds of interests in those who are interviewed is never performed when inconvenient.
I was a kid growing up near Cambridge when Kennedy pulled a bunch of folks out of Harvard. Some of my best friends at school were the children of these guys so I remember well when they all moved to Washington.
I still recall the excitment and incredible energy of those days. I have no doubt the feeling around the Yard and the Square is much the same now. It worked out pretty well for Jack.
So before people jump down Obama's throat, take a deep breath, a chill pill, a tall drink or all three and relax. Get back to us in a year or so once the man's had a chance to actually do something.
Summers' argument was that intelligence in men has a wider distribution than intelligence in women, which means you find fewer women in academic science, which by most measures requires superior intelligence and doesn't value as much skills women tend to be better at, like communication. Published research since then has indicated brain development factors on the X chromosome (which backs this up, because they would 'average' in women and not in men), and most analyses of test scores also back up Summers' assertion. Summers isn't sexist, he's just completely unpolitical. Hopkins' concerns about Summers working with women is insecurity. I, for one, am happy Summers will be helping guide the nation's economy, because he is brilliant.
These Harvard feminists should get on about shaving their armpits instead of nagging Larry about this and that and past perceived slights.
Trent, you hit the nail on the head! These Harvard people are a superior, self-absorbed bunch. But, no surprises there, I guess. I liked Summers when he was at Harvard, simply because he said what he thought. A rarity these days. He was not compromised by the people around him or the Harvard banner above his head. I am confident he will continue to show the same integrity and strength of character in his new position. Good luck to him!
So when does the Globe change its name to Pravda?
Summers is a great pick! He is a proponent of globalization and free trade. His appointment signals Obama will continue the economic policies of George W. Bush.
Did someone say something about "change"?
You better believe it!
Um... what's going on here? Am I the only one that sees clearly that globalization and free trade are EXACTLY what got us in this economic crisis in the first place? If Summers will continue the economic policies of W, that what change are you talking about? Better believe what? You don't make a bit of sense. What scares me the most is smart people who can't see what's right in front of their face. Do yourselves a favor and read, Confessions of an Economic Hitman by John Perkins and then see if you're still waving your W flag. Please people, enough is enough.
This blogger might want to review your comment before posting it.
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