Lawrence H. Summers on Academic Freedom and Anti-Semitism

Lecture Watch the video

Former Treasury Secretary and President Emeritus of Harvard University Lawrence H. Summers discusses growing concerns about anti-Semitism on college campuses amidst the Boycott Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) movement against Israel. Addressing the controversy surrounding his opposition to a Harvard petition for Israeli divestment, Summers analyzes the BDS movement and calls on universities to confront the challenge it poses to one of the Academy’s core values.

About the Speaker

Lawrence H. Summers is the Charles W. Eliot University Professor and President Emeritus at Harvard University. He served as the 71st Secretary of the Treasury for President Clinton, the Director of the National Economic Council for President Obama, and as the Chief Economist of the World Bank. As one of President Obama’s chief economic advisors, Summers helped shape the U.S. response to the 2008 financial crisis, the failure of the automobile industry, and to the pressures on the European monetary system. Upon Summers’ departure from the White House, President Obama said, “I will always be grateful that at a time of great peril for our country, a man of Larry’s brilliance, experience and judgment was willing to answer the call and lead our economic team.” 

Summers is a distinguished senior fellow at the Center for American Progress and recently co-chaired the Commission on Inclusive Prosperity. He also recently chaired the Commission on Global Health, lauded by the UN Secretary General. Summers has been recognized as one of the world’s most influential thinkers by Time, Foreign Policy, Prospect and The Economist magazines among others.