Chris Lawrence received his PhD in History from the University of Tennessee in 2013, where he completed his dissertation, titled "Crisis of Legitimacy: Honorius, Galla Placidia, and the Struggles for Control of the Western Roman Empire, 405 – 425 C.E.”, under the supervision of Dr. Michael Kulikowski. He also holds an MA from the University of Toronto (2001) and a BA from the University of Massachusetts (1997).

Dr. Lawrence is a historian of the later Roman Empire and early medieval Europe. His research is mainly focused on the political and cultural history of the Roman Empire during the fourth and fifth centuries C.E., particularly topics such as Roman/“barbarian” interaction, the rise of the military aristocracy, and the collapse of Roman central authority in Western Europe in the late fifth century.