Before he was forced out as bank president last May, amid controversy over some professional help he gave his girlfriend, Paul Wolfowitz attempted to beef up the institution's internal-investigations unit.

ECONOMIST: The World Bank

Muslim rulers, from the Abbasids in the eighth century to the Mamluk sultanate in Egypt and the Ottomans, developed the institution of military slavery to lessen nepotism and the internal conflicts created by tribal loyalties.

ECONOMIST: Theories of history

The dean added that an internal committee would put forward recommendations on how to promote honesty within the institution.

BBC: Harvard University file picture