BOSTON, Massachusetts (Reuters) -- A group of leading Harvard University professors have launched an angry protest over a report that the school's controversial president, Lawrence Summers, had told faculty members he was dissatisfied with an important dean and had considered firing him."This kind of backbiting is more than unprofessional," said a statement signed by 17 professors including seven department heads sent to Harvard Corp. Tuesday.The statement threatens to reignite controversy at the Ivy League school over Summers, who nearly lost his job over his remarks on women in January.It follows a report in the Harvard Crimson student newspaper that quoted two unnamed sources as saying Summers, a former U.S. treasury secretary, had planned to fire William Kirby, dean of arts and sciences, last year before he was weakened by uproar surrounding his January speech.The paper did not say why Summers wanted to fire Kirby."We remain deeply concerned that the work of our departments and university cannot be sustained under such conditions," said the statement, a copy of which was obtained by Reuters."We think it is highly improper if, as reported, the president of Harvard has been expressing to members of the faculty his 'deep dissatisfaction' with the dean of arts and sciences," it added.Summers faced scattered calls for his resignation after his January remark that intrinsic differences between the sexes may help explain why so few women work in the academic sciences.Those comments followed a public feud with the African-American studies faculty that erupted shortly after Summers became president in 2001. The once-vaunted department has seen an exodus of its top faculty.But since March, when the undergraduate faculty censured him over the comments and his general leadership of America's oldest university, he appears to have polished his image and has carefully avoided controversy after refusing to step down.Summers -- a Harvard alumni and former faculty member -- pledged to change his tone, better listen to the Harvard community and do more to draw women to science and engineering. His spokesman, John Longbrake, said he had replied to the statement in a letter to the professors.Copyright 2005 Reuters. All rights reserved.This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.