Saying He No Longer Supports Summers, Harper Quits Board

Conrad K. Harper announced his resignation from the Harvard Corporation today, saying he could “no longer support President Summers.”

Harper, a fierce but silent critic of Summers on the University’s top governing board, said he had written a letter to the University President on July 14 explaining his resignation. In an interview today, Harper would not divulge the details of that letter.

Elected in February 2000, Harper served on the search committee that selected Summers in 2001. Current and former Harvard officials familiar with the Corporation told The Crimson in June that Harper had been particularly critical of Summers’ abrasive management style and made those objections clear during the presidential search.

A partner at the New York law firm Simpson Thacher & Bartlett and a 1965 graduate of Harvard Law School, Harper was the first African-American to sit on the Corporation.

In a statement released by the University, James R. Houghton ’58, senior fellow of the Corporation, said he was disappointed by Harper’s decision.

“I regret that he has chosen, in reflecting on recent matters at the University, to bring his service to a close,” Houghton said.

Summers, in a statement, made no mention of the reason behind Harper’s departure.

“Conrad Harper’s candid and insightful counsel on a wide range of important matters has strongly benefited the University,” Summers said. “I am grateful to him, both personally and on Harvard’s behalf, for his devoted service and for the many contributions he has made to the work of the Corporation.”

Harper, in an interview, would not elaborate on the reasons behind his departure or his relationship with the president, saying only, “I concluded I could no longer support President Summers.”

“My reasons are set forth in a letter that I wrote to the president July 14th,” Harper added, “and it would speak for itself.”

A search for Harper’s replacement, who must be elected by the Corporation, which includes Summers, will begin shortly, the University said in a statement.

—Staff writer Zachary M. Seward can be reached at seward@fas.harvard.edu.