Harvard economist Lawrence Summers announced he will retire at the end of the academic year after the Justice Department’s release of Jeffrey Epstein-related documents showed an extended relationship with the financier. Summers had already been on leave; Harvard confirmed his departure and said it would review the matter as part of campus oversight. In a related development, Columbia’s Nobel laureate Richard Axel stepped down as co‑director of the Zuckerman Mind Brain Behavior Institute amid scrutiny of his ties to Epstein. Axel’s resignation follows an internal review and public pressure that widened after the government release. Both departures mark the newest wave of fallout from the Epstein file disclosures that has reshaped leadership rosters, provoked faculty and trustee inquiries, and prompted universities to review donor, collaborator and gift‑acceptance policies. Institutions face immediate reputational, legal, and governance questions as they assess historical relationships and their duty of disclosure.