UH Law Center Remembers Professor Richard Dole

April 2, 2025 – The University of Houston Law Center mourns the passing of Professor Richard F. Dole Jr., who died March 29, 2026, at the age of 89. He served as a UHLC faculty member for nearly five decades, from 1978 until his retirement in 2025.

Widely recognized for his scholarship in commercial law, bankruptcy, consumer protection and creditor rights, Dole shaped generations of students. Before joining UH Law, he worked as junior professor at the University of Iowa College of Law for 14 years. Over the course of his career, he authored and co-authored numerous books and scholarly articles, including drafting a leading treatise on Article 9 of the Uniform Commercial Code.

He also served as a consultant to the U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee on the Bankruptcy Code and was appointed by the governors of Iowa and Texas to their respective Commissions on Uniform State Laws. Dole extended his academic influence globally as a Fulbright scholar at the Tsinghua University School of Law in China and as a visiting research scholar in Japan — at University of Tokyo Faculty of Law and at the Institute of Monetary Studies at the Bank of Japan-Japanese Federal Reserve.

Born in Lowell, Massachusetts, Dole was the first in his family to attend college and go to law school. He graduated magna cum laude from Bates College before earning his J.D. from Cornell University Law School, where he was a Ford Foundation Fellow. He later graduated as a Doctor of Judicial Science (SJD) from the University of Michigan Law School and was inducted in the Order of the Coif.

A memorial service is scheduled at 10 a.m. Friday, June 6, at Bradshaw Center Funeral Home, 1734 W. Alabama St. in Houston. In lieu of flowers, the family requests donations to Houston Public Media or Audubon Texas.