Provost Harvey V. Fineberg '67 announced today that he will resign from his post effective July 1, ending weeks of speculation as to what he might do after being passed over for the Harvard presidency.

Fineberg, who has served as provost for the past four years, will go on sabbatical to "immerse myself again in my field of policy studies and consider longer-term plans," he wrote in a letter to colleagues, Overseers, and Fellows of the University.

Fineberg wrote that his departure is motivated by his belief that Summers "deserves the opportunity and the fullest flexibility to design this important role and relationship in the way he sees fit, from the earliest stages of his tenure."

Fineberg wrote that he intends his last three months as provost "to be active ones."

Fineberg has been at Harvard since 1963, first as an undergraduate, then as a graduate student in the Kennedy School and a student at the Medical School, followed by a faculty position at the School of Public Health, dean of the Faculty of Public Health, and finally as provost.

In his letter, Fineberg said that he has shared his plans with president-elect of the University Lawrence H. Summers, and will be "fully available to him and others to offer my counsel in whatever ways will be most helpful."

His last day on the job will be June 30.