Roy L. Steinheimer Jr. was born on Dec. 2, 1916, in Dodge City, Kansas, to Roy L. Steinheimer Sr. and Nettie E. Steinheimer. He grew up in Hutchinson, Kansas. He received his A.B. in economics in 1937 from the University of Kansas and his law degree from the University of Michigan Law School in 1940. He practiced law with Sullivan & Cromwell in New York City for 10 years before returning to the University of Michigan, where he taught from 1950 to 1968.

Steinheimer came to Washington and Lee in 1968 as dean, and after his 1983 retirement from that post continued to teach at the law school. During his tenure as dean, the Law School moved into a new building, welcomed its first women students, further diversified its student body, and strengthened its national profile.

As a professor and writer, Steinheimer's primary field was commercial law. He served on the Uniform Commercial Code committees of the American and Michigan state bar associations and lectured widely on the code. Steinheimer wrote many articles and books, including the two-volume (1969) and the two-volume (1964).

In 1984, he spent a semester at the University of Alabama as the first occupant of the John Sparkman Distinguished Professorship. In 1985, he was named the Robert E.R. Huntley Professor of Law at Washington and Lee and taught commercial transactions and consumer protection. He retired from Washington and Lee in 1987. From 1989 to 1999, however, he served as an adjunct professor of law. He died in Lexington, Virginia January 8, 2015.