“When I take people on tours of the Law School, they are always impressed with the beautiful glass ceiling over the Commons. That ceiling bathes us in natural light while we view the sturdy granite of our traditional academic buildings all around us. But many years before we built that beautiful new ceiling to let in the light, there was another very sturdy glass ceiling in place at Hutchins Hall that kept us in the dark ages.
We were by no means remarkable in this respect, and I certainly don’t mean to single us out. Many people were living in the dark ages back then. But we certainly weren’t trailblazers either.
And I think we all owe a debt of gratitude to the woman who first breached that glass ceiling in Hutchins Hall.
So thank you, Chris, for piercing the glass ceiling and braving the headwinds to make the faculty a more hospitable place for women, and for being such a good colleague and friend, not only in the years behind us, but in the years to come.”
—Rebecca S. Eisenberg, the Robert and Barbara Luciano Professor of Law, in remarks to commemorate the retirement of Christina Whitman, ’74, the Francis A. Allen Collegiate Professor Emerita of Law, who became the first female member of the Michigan Law faculty when she taught her first class in 1976.
“Bruce has an ability to see an immense body of detail, but to always keep in mind ‘What’s the bigger picture? What’s the most profound question I can ask of these details I've found?’ And I find his prose style a model of elegance. There’s a matter-of-factness to Bruce's style. He doesn't say, ‘I am going to blow your mind,’ but rather, ‘Let me tell you a story,’ and that story leaves you thinking about the world in a really different way.
At one of the country’s great universities, we found a person with the highest caliber intellectual firepower, and we didn’t let his lack of a law degree stand in our way. In fact, it’s a testament to the school that Bruce is one of the more practical people here. Bruce is an extraordinary talent, and we should take a moment to celebrate him today.”
—Professor of Law Gabriel Rauterberg in a toast to Bruce Frier, the John and Teresa D'Arms Distinguished University Professor of Classics and Roman Law, in honor of his retirement from the faculty.
