Justice Stephen Breyer sits with fellow Supreme Court justices for a group portrait at the Supreme Court Building in Washington on Nov. 30, 2018.
WASHINGTON (AP) — Retired Justice Stephen Breyer is getting a different title: professor.
Harvard said Friday that Breyer, who retired from the Supreme Court June 30, is re-joining its law school faculty. Breyer is a graduate of the law school and first joined the Harvard faculty in 1967. He continued to teach at Harvard after he became a federal appeals court judge in 1980 until former President Bill Clinton nominated him to the Supreme Court in 1994.
Harvard said in a statement that Breyer will "teach seminars and reading groups, continue to write books and produce scholarship, and participate in the intellectual life of the school and in the broader Harvard community."
Breyer, 83, does not yet have any classes listed in Harvard's online course catalog. However, the school said his appointment as Byrne Professor of Administrative Law and Process would be effective immediately. Breyer is a longtime expert in administrative law, the law surrounding government agencies, and co-authored a textbook on the subject.
Harvard's announcement included a statement from Breyer. "I am very pleased to return to Harvard to teach there and to write," he said. "Among other things, I will likely try to explain why I believe it important that the next generations of those associated with the law engage in work, and take approaches to law, that help the great American constitutional experiment work effectively for the American people."
Breyer has not said what else he might do in retirement. A 1937 law allows retired Supreme Court justices to continue to hear and decide cases on lower federal courts, a practice called "sitting by designation." Breyer has not said if that is something he will do.
With the swearing in of Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson, these are the current members of the U.S. Supreme Court:
The 9 current justices of the US Supreme Court
Chief Justice John Roberts
Updated
Chief Justice John Roberts
Nominated to serve as chief justice by President George W. Bush
Took seat Sept. 29, 2005
Born Jan. 27, 1955, in Buffalo, N.Y.
Justice Clarence Thomas
Updated
Associate Justice Clarence Thomas
Nominated to serve as associate justice by President George H.W. Bush
Took seat Oct. 23, 1991
Born June 23, 1948, near Savannah, Georgia
Justice Samuel Alito
Updated
Associate Justice Samuel Alito
Nominated to serve as associate justice by President George W. Bush
Took seat Jan. 31, 2006
Born April 1, 1950, in Trenton, New Jersey
Justice Sonia Sotomayor
Updated
Associate Justice Sonia Sotomayor
Nominated to serve as associate justice by President Barack Obama
Took seat Aug. 8, 2009
Born June 25, 1954, in Bronx, New York
Justice Elena Kagan
Updated
Associate Justice Elena Kagan
Nominated to serve as associate justice by President Barack Obama
Took seat Aug. 7, 2010
Born April 28, 1960, in New York City
Justice Neil Gorsuch
Updated
Associate Justice Neil Gorsuch
Nominated to serve as associate justice by President Donald Trump
Took seat April 10, 2017
Born Aug. 29, 1967, in Denver, Colorado
Justice Brett Kavanaugh
Updated
Associate Justice Brett Kavanaugh
Nominated to serve as associate justice by President Donald Trump
Took seat Oct. 6, 2018
Born Feb. 12, 1965, in Washington D.C.
Justice Amy Coney Barrett
Updated
Associate Justice Amy Coney Barrett
Nominated to serve as associate justice by President Donald Trump
Took seat Oct. 27, 2020
Born January 28, 1972
Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson
Updated
Associate Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson
Nominated to serve as associate justice by President Joe Biden
Took seat June 30, 2022
Born September 14, 1970




