Richard Paul Saller (born October 18, 1952) is an American

classicist Classics, also classical studies or Ancient Greek and Roman studies, is the study of classical antiquity. In the Western world, ''classics'' traditionally refers to the study of Ancient Greek literature, Ancient Greek and Roman literature and ...

. He is the former provost of the

University of Chicago The University of Chicago (UChicago, Chicago, or UChi) is a Private university, private research university in Chicago, Illinois, United States. Its main campus is in the Hyde Park, Chicago, Hyde Park neighborhood on Chicago's South Side, Chic ...

and the former dean of the School of Humanities and Sciences at

Stanford University Leland Stanford Junior University, commonly referred to as Stanford University, is a Private university, private research university in Stanford, California, United States. It was founded in 1885 by railroad magnate Leland Stanford (the eighth ...

. He served as president of Stanford for eleven months from September 2023 to July 2024. On July 19, 2023, Stanford University president Marc Tessier-Lavigne announced he would resign. Stanford University's board of trustees appointed Saller to serve as an interim president beginning on September 1.

Early life and education

Saller was born in 1952. He earned two

Bachelor of Arts A Bachelor of Arts (abbreviated B.A., BA, A.B. or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is the holder of a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the liberal arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts deg ...

in history and ancient Greek at the

University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign The University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign (UIUC, U of I, Illinois, or University of Illinois) is a public land-grant research university in the Champaign–Urbana metropolitan area, Illinois, United States. Established in 1867, it is the fou ...

, in 1974 and his Ph.D. from

Jesus College, Cambridge Jesus College is a Colleges of the University of Cambridge, constituent college of the University of Cambridge. Jesus College was established in 1496 on the site of the twelfth-century Benedictine nunnery of St Radegund's Priory, Cambridge, St ...

, in 1978.

Career

University of Chicago

From 1979 to 1984 Saller was assistant professor at Swarthmore College. In 1984, Saller began teaching Roman social and economic history at the

. He became a dean in 1994 and the university's provost in 2002. As dean, he attracted controversy for asking the university to shut down its educational department.

Stanford

In April 2007, Saller was made the dean of the School of Humanities and Sciences at

. He stepped down in September 2018 to teach full-time.

Awards and distinctions

Since 1986, the Saller Dissertation Prize has been awarded at University of Chicago for outstanding dissertations.

Personal life

Saller is married to anthropologist Tanya Luhrmann.

Publications

Books

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References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Saller, Richard 1952 births Living people Presidents of Stanford University University of Chicago faculty University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign alumni Alumni of Jesus College, Cambridge