Elizabeth Warren's performance in the first of two crowded Democratic debates last week has put her presidential bid front and center. And while the U.S. senator's life story is pretty well documented, less well-known is her spouse, a law professor who, like the other men married to presidential hopefuls, has a chance to become the first first gentleman in the nation's history. Here's a primer on Bruce Mann.

Mann has been on the faculty at Harvard Law School since 2006, where he is the Carl F. Schipper Jr. professor of law. He teaches American legal history, property and trusts and Estates. However it appears he's taking a break from the classroom while his wife hits the campaign trail. According to the law school's website, Mann isn't scheduled to teach again until the spring of 2020. Might he have a new residence at that point?

He may teach at Harvard, but he's a Yale guy. Mann got his Juris Doctor from the New Haven law school in 1975 along with a joint master's degree in philosophy. He struck around to collect his Ph.D. in legal history in 1977. But he wasn't a Yale undergrad. He attended Brown University.

Mann has made the rounds through the legal academy. He started his law teaching career at the University of Connecticut School of Law before stints at Washington University in St. Louis School of Law, the University of Houston Law Center; the University of Texas School of Law, the University of Michigan Law School, and the University of Pennsylvania Law School.

Mann and Warren have been married since 1980. The couple met at a legal conference, where Mann has said he was taken with Warren and tried for two days to get her attention. But it was Warren who popped the question to Mann. (She has said she proposed in a classroom after seeing Mann teach for the first time.) The couple raised Warren's children from her first marriage, who grew up referring to Mann as “Dad.” They have a golden retriever that has made appearances at some campaign events.

Mann chaired the 12-member committee that examined Harvard Law School's former seal, which featured the family crest of early donor and slaveholder Isaac Royall Jr. That committee in 2016 recommended replacing the seal—albeit not unanimously—and the university agreed.

He's a published author. Mann has written two books, co-edited a volume of essays and penned numerous law review article. His most recent book is “Republic of Debtors: Bankruptcy in the Age of American Independence,” published in 2002.

He is apparently comfortable taking a back seat to politico Warren, despite his own sterling credentials. “I'm usually introduced as Elizabeth's husband, which has been fine with me,” he told a crowd at a senior center in 2012.