(CNN) Harvard University has suspended a high-profile economics professor after several women made sexual harassment claims and internal investigations were launched, according to an internal memo obtained by CNN on Wednesday.

Roland G. Fryer, who was also the faculty director of the Education Innovation Laboratory, was suspended for two years without pay after the university found that he "engaged in unwanted sexual conduct toward several individuals," wrote Claudine Gay, a Harvard dean, to the economics department.

Fryer's Education Innovation Laboratory, which focused on collecting data and research to help form government policy, will also be closed.

"I am deeply disappointed, particularly because the important and outstanding work of my colleagues in our economics research Lab has been forced to stop," Fryer said in a statement. "Harvard has spoken. In due course, I will as well."

After Fryer returns from suspension, he will not be an adviser or a supervisor. Dean Gay will decide if Fryer can teach an undergraduate course under a monitor's supervision. He will not have access to graduate fellows, the letter said.

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