Richard Henry Fallon Jr. (born 4 January 1952) is an American legal scholar and the

Story Professor of Law The Story Professor of Law is the official title of the Chair at Harvard Law School, and it is named for Joseph Story Joseph Story (September 18, 1779 – September 10, 1845) was an associate justice of the Supreme Court of the United States, ...

Harvard Law School Harvard Law School (Harvard Law or HLS) is the law school of Harvard University, a private research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1817, it is the oldest continuously operating law school in the United States. Each class ...

Early life and education

Fallon was born in

Augusta, Maine Augusta is the capital of the U.S. state of Maine and the county seat of Kennebec County. The city's population was 18,899 at the 2020 census, making it the tenth-most populous city in Maine, and third-least populous state capital in the U ...

, on 4 January 1952, and attended

Yale College Yale College is the undergraduate college of Yale University. Founded in 1701, it is the original school of the university. Although other Yale schools were founded as early as 1810, all of Yale was officially known as Yale College until 1887, ...

, graduating in 1975 with a bachelor of arts degree. He then accepted a

Rhodes Scholarship The Rhodes Scholarship is an international postgraduate award for students to study at the University of Oxford, in the United Kingdom. Established in 1902, it is the oldest graduate scholarship in the world. It is considered among the world ...

to the

University of Oxford The University of Oxford is a collegiate research university in Oxford, England. There is evidence of teaching as early as 1096, making it the oldest university in the English-speaking world and the world's second-oldest university in contin ...

, where he completed an interdisciplinary undergraduate degree in philosophy, politics and economics in 1977. Fallon returned to the United States and earned a

Juris Doctor The Juris Doctor (J.D. or JD), also known as Doctor of Jurisprudence (J.D., JD, D.Jur., or DJur), is a graduate-entry professional degree in law and one of several Doctor of Law degrees. The J.D. is the standard degree obtained to practice l ...

degree from

Yale Law School Yale Law School (Yale Law or YLS) is the law school of Yale University, a private research university in New Haven, Connecticut. It was established in 1824 and has been ranked as the best law school in the United States by '' U.S. News & Worl ...

in 1980. Fallon subsequently served as a law clerk for

J. Skelly Wright James Skelly Wright (January 14, 1911 – August 6, 1988) was a United States circuit judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit and previously was a United States district judge of the United States District ...

and

Lewis F. Powell Lewis Franklin Powell Jr. (September 19, 1907 – August 25, 1998) was an American lawyer and jurist who served as an Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States from 1972 to 1987. Born in Suffolk, Virginia, he gradua ...

, then began his teaching career at

in 1982, where he was appointed to a full professorship in 1987.

Career

In 2005, Fallon was named Ralph S. Tyler, Jr. Professor of Constitutional Law, succeeding

Laurence Tribe Laurence Henry Tribe (born October 10, 1941) is an American legal scholar who is a University Professor Emeritus at Harvard University. He previously served as the Carl M. Loeb University Professor at Harvard Law School. A constitutional law sc ...

, and later became the

, a position formerly held by

Daniel Meltzer Daniel Julius Meltzer (December 17, 1951 – May 24, 2015) was an American lawyer and law professor who taught at Harvard Law School. He worked in the Obama Administration as Principal Deputy Counsel from January 2009 through June 1, 2010. Educati ...

. Fallon is a member of the

American Law Institute The American Law Institute (ALI) is a research and advocacy group of judges, lawyers, and legal scholars established in 1923 to promote the clarification and simplification of United States common law and its adaptation to changing social needs ...

, as well as the

American Academy of Arts and Sciences The American Academy of Arts and Sciences (abbreviation: AAA&S) is one of the oldest learned societies in the United States. It was founded in 1780 during the American Revolution by John Adams, John Hancock, James Bowdoin, Andrew Oliver, ...

. Other awards Fallon has received include the 2019 Thomas M. Cooley Book Prize, and the 2021 Daniel J. Meltzer Award from the

Association of American Law Schools The Association of American Law Schools (AALS), formed in 1900, is a non-profit organization of 176 law schools in the United States. An additional 19 schools pay a fee to receive services but are not members. AALS incorporated as a 501(c)(3) no ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Fallon, Richard H. Jr. 1952 births Living people American Rhodes Scholars Yale College alumni Yale Law School alumni Alumni of the University of Oxford American expatriates in the United Kingdom Harvard Law School alumni Members of the American Law Institute 21st-century American male writers 20th-century American male writers People from Augusta, Maine Writers from Maine Fellows of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences