John Lyons received his bachelor's degree from Brown University and his master's and doctoral degrees from Yale University. He taught at Yale and Dartmouth, and was director of the American Center for Film Studies in Paris, before coming to U.Va. in 1987, where he has been the Commonwealth Professor of French since 1992.

An internationally renowned scholar of 17th century French literature, John has been- and will undoubtedly remain - a prolific writer.  His ten authored books include: Tragedy and the Return of the Dead. (2018); The Phantom of Chance. From Fortune to Randomness in Seventeenth-Century French Literature (2011) and French Literature. A Very Short Introduction (2010), and Women and Irony in Molière’s Comedies of Marriage (2023). His edited and co-edited works include Critical Tales: New Studies of the Heptameron and Early Modern Culture (with Mary McKinley, 1994), The Cambridge Companion to French Literature (2015),  The Dark Thread: From Tragical Histories to Gothic Tales (2019) and The Oxford Handbook of the Baroque (2019).  Over the course of his career, John was also awarded a J.S. Guggenheim Fellowship, two NEH fellowships, and two ACLS fellowships.

Appreciation for his intellectual accomplishments is joined by admiration for his masterful teaching, earning him four teaching awards at Dartmouth and UVA, including one from the Seven Society. Along with frequent lectures at the most prestigious universities in Europe, he has also generously shared his knowledge with fellow teachers, especially through leading workshops for high school and middle school educators of French as well as a Mellon-funded dissertation seminar. In 2007, his intellectual contributions and commitment to the promotion of French earned him entry into the French Legion of Honor at the rank of Chevalier.

A beloved professor, he has consistently received the highest praise from his graduate and undergraduate students. Undergraduates maintain lifelong friendships with him and regularly credit him with transforming their thinking. His former dissertation students prize his intellectual generosity and will celebrate his retirement with a conference and Festschrift in his honor. A cherished colleague, John’s sharp intellect, collegiality and humor will long be appreciated by the members of the French Department.