# Richard Primus

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{{Short description|American legal scholar (born 1969)}}
{{Infobox academic
| name = Richard A. Primus
| image = 
| caption = 
| birth_date = {{birth year and age|1969}}
| birth_place = 
| death_date = 
| death_place = 
| discipline = [Constitutional law](/source/United_States_constitutional_law)
| workplaces = [University of Michigan](/source/Michigan_Law_School)
| alma_mater = [Harvard University](/source/Harvard_University) ([AB](/source/Bachelor_of_Arts))<br />[Balliol College, Oxford](/source/Balliol_College%2C_Oxford) ([DPhil](/source/DPhil))<br />[Yale University](/source/Yale_University) ([JD](/source/Juris_Doctor))
| spouse = {{Marriage|Eve Lynn Brensike|2007}}
| awards = [Guggenheim Fellowship](/source/Guggenheim_Fellowship) (2008)
| relatives = [Sigmund Strochlitz](/source/Sigmund_Strochlitz) (maternal grandfather)
}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=November 2020}}
'''Richard Abraham Primus''' (born 1969) is an American legal scholar. He currently teaches [United States constitutional law](/source/United_States_constitutional_law) at the [University of Michigan Law School](/source/University_of_Michigan_Law_School), where he is Theodore J. St. Antoine Collegiate Professor of Law.<ref>{{Cite web|last=|first=|date=|title=Primus, Richard|url=https://www.law.umich.edu/FacultyBio/Pages/FacultyBio.aspx?FacID=raprimus|archive-url=|archive-date=|access-date=2020-11-20|website=[University of Michigan Law School](/source/University_of_Michigan_Law_School)|language=en-US}}</ref> In 2008, he was awarded a [Guggenheim Fellowship](/source/Guggenheim_Fellowship) for his work on the relationship between history and constitutional interpretation.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.gf.org/fellows/all-fellows/richard-primus/|title=Richard Primus|publisher=John Simon Guggenheim Foundation|access-date=December 9, 2019}}</ref>

==Education and career==
Primus graduated from [Harvard College](/source/Harvard_College) with an A.B., summa cum laude, in [social studies](/source/social_studies). He then earned a [Doctor of Philosophy](/source/Doctor_of_Philosophy) in [politics](/source/politics) at [Balliol College, Oxford](/source/Balliol_College%2C_Oxford), where he was a [Rhodes Scholar](/source/Rhodes_Scholarship) and the Jowett Senior Scholar. After studying law at [Yale Law School](/source/Yale_Law_School), Primus was a [law clerk](/source/law_clerk) to Judge [Guido Calabresi](/source/Guido_Calabresi) on the [United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit](/source/United_States_Court_of_Appeals_for_the_Second_Circuit) and for Justice [Ruth Bader Ginsburg](/source/Ruth_Bader_Ginsburg) of the [U.S. Supreme Court](/source/Supreme_Court_of_the_United_States).<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.law.umich.edu/FacultyBio/Pages/FacultyBio.aspx?FacID=raprimus|title=Primus, Richard|publisher=University of Michigan Law School|access-date=December 9, 2019}}</ref>

Primus then practiced law at the Washington, D.C. office of [Jenner & Block](/source/Jenner_%26_Block) before joining the Michigan Law School faculty in 2001. He has taught as a visiting professor at [Columbia Law School](/source/Columbia_Law_School), [New York University School of Law](/source/New_York_University_School_of_Law), and the [University of Tokyo](/source/University_of_Tokyo). Primus currently teaches Introduction to Constitutional Law and Constitutional Theory at the University of Michigan.

His maternal grandfather, [Sigmund Strochlitz](/source/Sigmund_Strochlitz) (1916–2006), was a [Holocaust](/source/Holocaust) survivor and confidant of [Elie Wiesel](/source/Elie_Wiesel).<ref>{{cite news|author=Martin, Douglas|title=Sigmund Strochlitz, 89, Leader in Holocaust Causes, Dies|work=[The New York Times](/source/The_New_York_Times)|date=October 21, 2006|page=B7}}</ref> Primus has been married to Eve Brensike, who is also a professor at the University of Michigan School of Law, since 2007.<ref>{{cite news|title=Eve Brensike, Richard Primus|date=May 6, 2007|work=New York Times|page=ST21}}</ref>

==Publications==
*{{Cite book|last1=Primus|first1=Richard A.|title=The American Language of Rights|date=1999|publisher=[Cambridge University Press](/source/Cambridge_University_Press)|isbn=978-0-521-65250-6|doi=10.1017/cbo9780511490699}}<ref>Reviews of ''The American Language of Rights'':
*{{Cite journal|last1=Brett|first1=Annabel|date=2001|title=none|journal=[History of Political Thought](/source/History_of_Political_Thought_(journal))|volume=22|issue=3|pages=535–537|issn=0143-781X|jstor=26219803}}
*{{Cite journal|last=Gillman|first=Howard|author-link=Howard Gillman|date=September 2000|title=none|journal=[American Political Science Review](/source/American_Political_Science_Review)|language=en|volume=94|issue=3|pages=712–713|doi=10.2307/2585853|jstor=2585853|s2cid=151876104|issn=0003-0554}}</ref>
* Primus, Richard A. (2025). ''The Oldest Constitutional Question: Enumeration and Federal Power''. [Harvard University Press](/source/Harvard_University_Press), forthcoming June 3, 2025.

== See also ==
* [List of law clerks of the Supreme Court of the United States (Seat 6)](/source/List_of_law_clerks_of_the_Supreme_Court_of_the_United_States_(Seat_6))

==References==
{{Reflist}}

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Primus, Richard Abraham}}
Category:1969 births
Category:Living people
Category:American legal scholars
Category:Harvard College alumni
Category:Alumni of Balliol College, Oxford
Category:American Rhodes Scholars
Category:Yale Law School alumni
Category:Law clerks of the Supreme Court of the United States
Category:University of Michigan faculty
Category:University of Michigan Law School faculty
Category:People associated with Jenner & Block
Category:Academic staff of the University of Tokyo

{{US-legal-academic-bio-stub}}

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Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Richard Primus](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Richard_Primus) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Richard_Primus?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.