Heather K. Gerken

Heather K. Gerken is Sterling Professor of Law at Yale Law School, where she served as the 17th Dean from 2017 until 2025. She will become the 11th President of the Ford Foundation on November 1, 2025. As the first female Dean in Yale Law School's 200-year history, she strengthened academic excellence, expanded access to legal education through innovative pipeline programs, and launched the first full-tuition scholarship for law students with the highest need in 2022.

Education:

• J.D., University of Michigan Law School, 1994 (summa cum laude)
• A.B., Princeton University, 1991 (summa cum laude)

Professor Gerken is one of the country's leading experts on constitutional law and election law. A founder of the "nationalist school" of federalism, her scholarship focuses on federalism, diversity, and dissent. She bridges theory and practice through her work, including founding the San Francisco Affirmative Litigation Project (SFALP), one of the country's most innovative clinics in local government law. Her research examines how federalism can promote democratic values and how election systems can be improved through metrics and measurement. As a renowned teacher, she was named one of the nation's "26 best law teachers" in a book published by Harvard University Press.

Gerken's recent scholarship shows a consistent focus on federalism's evolving role in American democracy, with increasing attention to polarization, gerrymandering, and campaign finance reform. Her work connects theoretical frameworks with practical solutions for election administration and constitutional interpretation, reflecting her commitment to bridging the theory/practice divide in legal education. She has been featured in The New York Times, The Atlantic, The Boston Globe, NPR, and Time Magazine, with Politico Magazine naming her one of The Politico 50 in 2017.

Scientific Awards:

• The Politico 50 (2017) - list of idea makers in American politics
• Green Bag award for legal writing
• Member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences
• Nation's "26 best law teachers" (Harvard University Press)

Professor Gerken has testified before the U.S. Senate three times and served as a senior advisor to the Obama campaigns in 2008 and 2012. In 2013, her "Democracy Index" proposal was adopted by the Pew Charitable Trusts, creating the nation's first Election Performance Index. She has been instrumental in developing pipeline-to-law school programs and need-based financial aid initiatives that have transformed access to legal education. Prior to Yale, she clerked for Judge Stephen Reinhardt and Justice David Souter and taught at Harvard Law School.

She founded and ran the San Francisco Affirmative Litigation Project (SFALP), which has set a new standard for student impact on local law. The clinic exemplifies her philosophy of connecting academic scholarship with practical legal work to address real-world challenges in governance and democracy. As Dean, she established a special initiative designed to foster discourse across the political and ideological spectrum and reinforce the core values of lawyering.