[Photo: Lawrence Summers] Lawrence Summers is an American economist and member of President-elect Barack Obama's Transition Economic Advisory Board. On November 24, 2008 he was named the next head of the White House's National Economic Council. Summers is the Charles W. Eliot University Professor at Harvard University's Kennedy School of Government. He is the 1993 recipient of the John Bates Clark Medal for his work in several fields of economics and was Secretary of the Treasury for the last year and a half of the Bill Clinton administration. Summers also served as the 27th President of Harvard University from 2001 to 2006. In three instances during his time as Harvard president, Summers made remarks that touched on political "hot-button" controversies.Environmentalists, affirmat...more >>ive action advocates, and many women and those concerned with women's issues took offense and brought increasing pressure on Harvard, contributing to his resignation. Summers also proposed reforming undergraduate education and requested that professors take greater responsibility in teaching their undergraduate classes, as opposed to delegating to teaching fellows.