It is with sorrow that we note the January 23, 2024 passing of our long-time colleague Charles Fried. Professor Fried, the Beneficial Professor of Law at Harvard Law School, had been a dedicated Faculty Associate of the Center since 1990. His profound influence extended beyond academia, making him a close friend and mentor to many in our community. The Center is grateful for his years of support and his lasting impact on our work. Read more about Professor Fried and his legacy.

“Charles Fried was a towering intellect and a magnetic personality who touched many, many lives with extraordinary acts of warmth and generosity.  Charles took brave political positions, some very conservative and some that outraged conservatives as acts of apostasy.  He had the moral courage to change his mind.  I have never known a member of the Harvard community who made and cherished more friends, or whose death will be more widely felt as a personal loss.”

-Richard Fallon, Edmond & Lily Safra Center for Ethics Senior Scholar in Ethics, a Faculty Associate, and Story Professor of Law, Harvard Law School

“Charles Fried was a good and generous man. I was grateful to know him and loved the intellectual vivacity he always brought to Center lectures, seminars, and dinners. I will sorely miss him.”

-Danielle Allen, James Bryant Conant University Professor, Co-Director of the Justice, Health & Democracy Impact Initiative, and the former Director of the Edmond & Lily Safra Center for Ethics

"Charles was an essential faculty associate from the earliest days of the Center (from the very beginning).  His advice in those early years was invaluable, and continued to be helpful throughout his association with us. He always had time for the fellows, challenging but also inspiring them.  He was a luminous presence at our seminars, lectures and workshops, participating with verve and acuity on every occasion.  He will be missed—and well remembered here."

-Dennis F. Thompson, founding Director of the Edmond & Lily Safra Center for Ethics, Alfred North Whitehead Professor of Political Philosophy, Emeritus, at Harvard University, holding appointments in the Faculty of Arts and Sciences and in the Harvard Kennedy School