Who Is Larry Summers’ Wife? Meet Elisa New, Author and Former Harvard Professor

Larry Summers has long been a prominent figure in American economics and public policy. Over the decades, he has held several high-profile roles, including serving on the Council of Economic Advisers under Ronald Reagan, advising the presidential campaign of Michael Dukakis, and working in the U.S. Department of the Treasury during the administration of Bill Clinton, where he later became Secretary of the Treasury. He is perhaps best known in academia for serving as the 27th President of Harvard University.

In recent years, Summers has faced renewed scrutiny over his past association with Jeffrey Epstein. In 2025, he stepped back from public engagements after emails between the two became public. Reports indicated that Summers had sought romantic advice from Epstein and allegedly requested financial support for a poetry foundation led by his wife, Elisa New. On February 25, 2026, Summers announced plans to resign from his position as a tenured professor at Harvard. Amid the ongoing attention, public interest in his wife, Elisa New, has grown.

Elisa New’s Early Life and Family Background

Elisa New was born in Philadelphia in 1958 and raised in suburban Maryland. Her mother, Joan New, worked as a party planner in Washington, D.C., while her father, Ronald New, was a physicist and computer scientist. He previously worked at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, where, according to The New York Times, he specialized in underwater acoustics.

Education at Brandeis and Columbia

New completed her undergraduate degree at Brandeis University in 1980. She then pursued graduate studies at Columbia University, earning a Master’s degree in English in 1982, followed by a Master’s in Philosophy in 1985. She completed her PhD in English at Columbia in 1988.

Before attending Brandeis, New was already writing poetry. During her time there, she was deeply influenced by Professor Allen Grossman. Reflecting on his mentorship in a statement to Brandeis’ alumni section, she said:

“I was in awe of his largeness of thought, presence and generosity as a teacher. I spent hours absorbing the difficult concepts he presented. He said poetry’s highest calling is that people speak to each other across time, that we galvanise our human community by writing poetry, all the way back to the ancient poets. I got my ambition to pursue that kind of impact from him.”

Career as a Professor, Poet, and Media Host

Over the years, Elisa New has held several academic leadership roles. She served as director of the Center for Public Humanities at Arizona State University and later became the Powell M. Cabot Professor of American Literature, Emerita, at Harvard University.

In addition to her academic career, New is a published author and poet. She is widely recognized as the host and director of Poetry in America on PBS, a series aimed at making poetry accessible across various platforms, including television, streaming services, classrooms, and airlines.

Among her notable books are Jacob’s Cane: A Jewish Family’s Journey from the Four Lands of Lithuania to the Ports of London and Baltimore: A Memoir in Five Generations (2009) and New England Beyond Criticism: In Defence of America’s First Literature (2014).

How Elisa New and Larry Summers Met

According to the Harvard Independent, Summers and New were introduced in the fall of 2001 by mutual friends, fellow professors Natasha Lance-Rogoff and Kenneth Rogoff. At the time, Summers was serving as Harvard’s president.

After being told she would find Summers “funny and irreverent,” New took the initiative and emailed him to ask him out. The pair reportedly spent several evenings talking on the phone before meeting in person at a restaurant called Lala Rokh.

Marriage and Family Life

Summers and New became engaged in October 2005 and were married in December of the same year, according to The New York Times. Their wedding ceremony was held at Summers’ residence in Elmwood, followed by a reception at the Fogg Art Museum in Cambridge, Massachusetts. The celebration was attended by friends, family members, and colleagues from across Harvard.

As public attention continues to focus on Larry Summers’ career and controversies, Elisa New remains a respected academic, poet, and cultural advocate in her own right.