Prof. Robert L. Felix was born April 7, 1934, in Detroit, Michigan, to parents Rosalie LeFloch and Camille Auguste Felix. Raised in Cincinnati, Ohio, he attended St. Francis de Sales School, Hoffman Elementary School and graduated from Walnut Hills High School where he ran track and played basketball. He attended the University of Cincinnati majoring in English literature & philosophy. He ran varsity track and joined Beta Theta Pi Fraternity. He obtained his J.D. from the University of Cincinnati and was a member of the Law Review.
He served in the Ohio National Guard and with the Army at Ft. Knox before going west to the University of British Columbia. There he met his wife, Judith Joan Grossman. After graduating with a Master of Arts in Victorian Literature, he and his bride headed to Oxford, England. The study of Old English Law at Pembroke College led him to accept a teaching position at Duquesne University in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.
A Ford Fellowship then sent him to Harvard Law School where he obtained an L.L.M. He accepted a teaching position at the University of South Carolina School of Law, where he specialized in Torts, Products Liability, Conflicts of Law, and Law & Literature. He served as the chair of the Faculty Senate, three-time chairmen of the Faculty Advisory Committee, a member of the President’s Advisory Group, and President of the Southeastern Law School Association.
During this time, his publications included co-authorship with Patrick Hubbard of “The South Carolina Law Of Torts,” which has been updated annually since its original publication. He co-authored several editions of a casebook and treatise “American Conflicts Law” as well as numerous articles in legal journals on law & literature.
In 1975 he spent a year in France with his family as a visiting lecturer and Fulbright Scholar at the University of Clermont-Ferrand and the University of Brussels.
After nearly 40 years as a full-time faculty member, he retired but continued teaching some of his favorite classes such as Roman Law, Law & Literature and Conflicts of Law at both USC School of Law and Gray’s Inn of Court, London, England.
He was a member of St. Joseph Church, chairman of Parish Council, president of the Thomas Cooper Society at USC Library, and president of Meadowfield Neighborhood Association. He was also an avid tennis player for many years.
Prof. Robert L. Felix died on March 24, 2020. He is survived by his spouse Judith Felix; children, Danielle Nisbet (Chip), Bridget Kneece (Rex), R. Nicholas Felix (Lindy) and Conan P. Felix (Ali); and grandchildren, Connor Williams, Marion Williams, Gray Williams, Madelon Dotterer (Gilly), Patrick Kneece, Salters Kneece, Piers Kneece, Jack Felix, Camille Felix, Lila Felix and Rosalie Felix. He was preceded in death by his son, R. “Randy” Christopher Felix.