Bruce W. Frier, Ph.D., John and Teresa D’Arms Distinguished University Professor of Classics and Roman Law and professor of classical studies in the College of Literature, Science, and the Arts and professor of law in the Law School, retired from active faculty status on May 31, 2022.

Professor Frier earned his B.A. degree cum laude from Trinity College in 1964 and his Ph.D. degree in Classics from Princeton University in 1970. Before joining the Department of Classical Studies faculty, Professor Frier was a fellow of the American Academy in Rome and taught at Bryn Mawr College. He joined the University of Michigan Department of Classical Studies faculty as an assistant professor in 1969, and was promoted to associate professor in 1975, and professor in 1983. He became a visiting lecturer at the Law School in 1981, before becoming a professor in 1986. Professor Frier served as the interim chair of the Department of Classical Studies from 2001-02.

Professor Frier is the author of numerous books and articles about economic and social history, focusing especially on Roman law. His publications include Landlords and Tenants in Imperial Rome, The Rise of the Roman Jurists, A Casebook on the Roman Law of Delict, A Casebook on Roman Family Law, and The Modern Law of Contracts, now in its fourth edition and written with Michigan Law faculty colleague J.J. White. He is also the general editor of a three- volume annotated translation of the Codex of Justinian, published in 2016. He is also a member of both the American Philosophical Society and the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. In 2010, he received the Distinguished Faculty Governance Award from the University of Michigan.

The Regents now salute this distinguished teacher and scholar by naming Bruce W. Frier, John and Teresa D’Arms Distinguished University Professor Emeritus of Classics and Roman Law, professor emeritus of classical studies, and professor emeritus of law.