List of deans of Yale Law School
Administrative head
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Yale Law School is the law school of Yale University, a private research university in New Haven, Connecticut, United States. The school traces its origins to a proprietary law school that developed in the office of a New Haven lawyer in the early 19th century and gradually became affiliated with Yale during the 1820s.[1]: 17 The dean of Yale Law School is the executive officer of the school and chairs meetings of both its faculty and its Board of Permanent Officers.[2] The deanship has been endowed since 2004 by the Sol Goldman Charitable Trust and the Lillian Goldman Charitable Trust, and the sitting dean holds the title of Sol and Lillian Goldman Dean and Professor of Law.[3]
| Dean of Yale Law School | |
|---|---|
since 2026 | |
| Seat | Yale University |
| Appointer | |
| Formation | 1873 |
| First holder | Francis Wayland III |
| Website | Office of the Dean |
Under the university's bylaws, the dean is appointed for a term of no more than five years by the Yale Corporation upon the recommendation of the university president, following consultation with the law school's Board of Permanent Officers.[2] The board, which includes the dean together with the school's professors on permanent appointment and the president and provost ex officiis, is the governing board of the school and is entrusted with matters relating to its educational policy and governance.[2] In addition to chairing meetings of the board and faculty, the dean presents an annual budget for the law school to the president or provost.[2]
The office dates back to 1873, when Francis Wayland was appointed as the first dean of Yale Law School, two years after becoming its first full-time professor.[4] Wayland served until 1903 and oversaw a period in which the school established a philanthropic base, organized its modern law library, founded the Yale Law Journal, and began developing graduate programs in law.[5] In 1939, after the resignation of Charles Edward Clark, professor William O. Douglas was offered the deanship and accepted, only to be appointed a few days later by President Franklin D. Roosevelt to the U.S. Supreme Court.[6]: 111 In 2017, Heather K. Gerken became the school's seventeenth dean and the first woman to hold the office.[7] Following Gerken's departure in 2025, Yair Listokin served as interim dean from August 1, 2025, to January 30, 2026.[8] Cristina M. Rodríguez assumed office on February 1, 2026, becoming Yale Law School's eighteenth dean.[9]
Deans
| No. | Image | Name | Class | Term start | Term end | Ref. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 
| Francis Wayland III | – | 1873 | 1903 | [10][11] |
| 2 | 
| Henry Wade Rogers | – | 1903 | 1916 | [10][11] |
| 3 | .png)
| Thomas Walter Swan | – | 1916 | 1927 | [10][11] |
| 4 | 
| Robert Maynard Hutchins | 1925 | 1927 | 1929 | [10][11] |
| 5 | 
| Charles Edward Clark | 1913 | 1929 | 1939 | [10][11] |
| 6 | Ashbel Green Gulliver | 1922 | 1940 | 1946 | [10][11] | |
| 7 | Wesley Alba Sturges | 1923 | 1946 | 1954 | [10][11] | |
| 8 | Harry Shulman | – | 1954 | 1955 | [10][11] | |
| 9 | .jpg)
| Eugene V. Rostow | 1937 | 1955 | 1965 | [10][11] |
| 10 | 
| Louis Heilprin Pollak | 1948 | 1965 | 1970 | [10][11] |
| 11 | Abraham Samuel Goldstein | 1949 | 1970 | 1975 | [10][11] | |
| 12 | Harry Hillel Wellington | – | 1975 | 1985 | [10][11] | |
| 13 | Guido Calabresi | 1958 | 1985 | 1994 | [10][11] | |
| 14 | Anthony T. Kronman | 1975 | 1994 | 2004 | [10][11][12] | |
| 15 | 
| Harold Hongju Koh | – | 2004 | 2009 | [10][11] |
| 16 | 
| Robert C. Post | 1977 | 2009 | 2017 | [10][11] |
| 17 | 
| Heather K. Gerken | – | July 1, 2017 | July 31, 2025 | [10][13][14] |
| interim | Yair Listokin | 2005 | August 1, 2025 | January 30, 2026 | [15][16] | |
| 18 | Cristina M. Rodríguez | 2000 | February 1, 2026 | present | [10][17] |