Yale Law School Dean Heather Gerken Named Ford Foundation President

After eight years at the helm of Yale Law School, Dean Heather Gerken has been selected as the next president of the Ford Foundation. The news was announced by the Ford Foundation on July 1. 

Over the course of her deanship, Gerken has been a champion for bolstering need-based aid, supporting veterans and low-income students, and expanding access to legal education. As one of the country’s leading experts on constitutional law and election law, Gerken has also dedicated her life’s work and scholarship to democracy and the rule of law.

Yale University President Maurie McInnis lauded Gerken’s “transformative leadership” in a message to the Yale Community shortly after the news was announced. 

“Heather has led the charge in redefining legal education by strengthening the School’s tradition of academic excellence, launching innovative new programming, and stewarding robust philanthropic support to enhance the institution’s educational experience and need-based financial aid programs,” said McInnis. “Heather has led the Law School through unprecedented times with grace and determination, and a bold vision. She embodies the restless spirit that has long defined Yale Law School across its 200-year history.”

“Heather brings a wealth of experience working across the philanthropic and legal sectors that will only help sharpen the Ford Foundation’s operations and grantmaking,” said Dr. Francisco Cigarroa, chair of the board of trustees of the Ford Foundation in a press release about the announcement. “In Heather, we have found a thoughtful and innovative leader with a knowledge and passion for justice that is centered on helping advance human achievement for all citizens. Her life’s work resonates with the mission of the Ford Foundation.”

Read the Ford Foundation Announcement

As Dean, Gerken has worked tirelessly to expand access to legal education, creating two pipeline-to-law school programs and launching the first-in-the-nation full-tuition scholarships for law students with the highest financial need. This year, 15% of students pursuing Juris Doctor degrees are tuition-free at Yale Law School thanks to the life-changing program. During her tenure, the number of veterans has jumped significantly, rising from 1% to nearly 10%, and the number of students who are the first in their families to go to college or professional school has also risen dramatically. 

To push for change across legal education, Gerken led the withdrawal of more than 60 law schools from the U.S. News and World Report rankings, whose methodology disincentivized law schools from supporting public interest careers, championing need-based aid, and recruiting students from working-class backgrounds. Since then, Gerken has continued to passionately advocate for law schools across the country to invest in need-based aid, with several peers announcing similar free-tuition scholarships over the last few years. 

While it’s difficult to imagine leaving the Law School we all love, I am thrilled to take on this new and exciting challenge. The work of this moment is the work of my life, and I feel incredibly lucky to have the opportunity to helm such an extraordinary philanthropic organization.”
—Dean Heather K. Gerken  

Through an innovative leadership program, Gerken worked with the Law School faculty to further broaden and modernize the curriculum with wide-ranging courses and countless opportunities for mentorship connections and professional development. She also has spoken frequently and passionately about how lawyers and leaders must be able to work across divides to find solutions to the immense challenges facing society today. As part of the leadership program, Gerken established the Crossing Divides Program, a special initiative designed to foster discourse across the political and ideological spectrum and reinforce the core values of practicing law. In addition, she worked to launch the Center for Academic Freedom and Free Speech under the direction of Professor Keith Whittington to further strengthen the University’s commitment to these core values of the academy. 

Championing both theory and practice, Gerken has worked with the faculty to cultivate an intellectually rigorous academic environment by supporting faculty scholarship and expanding unparallel experiential learning opportunities for students. After launching the San Francisco Affirmative Litigation Project when she arrived at Yale 20 years ago, she was one of the only deans in the country to continue to teach and lead clinical work in addition to mentoring countless students and alumni.

In Heather, we have found a thoughtful and innovative leader with a knowledge and passion for justice that is centered on helping advance human achievement for all citizens. Her life’s work resonates with the mission of the Ford Foundation.”
—Ford Foundation Board Chair Dr. Francisco Cigarroa

In a note to the community after the announcement, Gerken expressed her heartfelt gratitude for the honor as serving as dean and the support and warmth of faculty, students, staff, and alumni through the years. Gerken will step down as dean in August and the University will work to appoint an interim dean and commence a search for the next dean of Yale Law School.

“While it’s difficult to imagine leaving the Law School we all love, I am thrilled to take on this new and exciting challenge. The work of this moment is the work of my life, and I feel incredibly lucky to have the opportunity to helm such an extraordinary philanthropic organization,” said Gerken. “I want to express my sincere gratitude for the privilege of leading this remarkable institution for the last eight years. It has been the honor of a lifetime. I am astounded by all we have built together as a community.”

The news of Gerken’s appointment as the next Ford President was met with excitement and praise from existing colleagues, legal experts, and advocates across civil society and the nonprofit sector.

Read Reactions to the Announcement

“Heather Gerken is a field-leading scholar, a visionary thinker, a brilliant lawyer, and a distinguished institutional leader who welcomes vigorous argument and diverse viewpoints,” said Christopher L. Eisgruber, president of Princeton University. “I have benefited tremendously from the wise and thoughtful counsel she has provided as a trustee of Princeton University. In a moment when constitutional democracy needs urgent attention and engagement, I cannot imagine a better president for the Ford Foundation.” 

“As a trustee at the Mellon Foundation, Heather has been a problem-solver par excellence and a pragmatic encourager of brave and bold philanthropic vision, unflaggingly understanding that justice work is carried not only by advocates but also by ideas and in the arts and in culture that give our lives meaning, beauty, and hope,” said Elizabeth Alexander, president of the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation. “As a scholar, she has applied her fierce intellect to the continuing work of ensuring that our rights are protected and our democracy upheld. As a university leader, Heather empowered students and faculty while dramatically broadening access to legal education. Heather is a person of the utmost integrity and humanity, and a champion for justice who will serve the Ford Foundation with brilliance, force, and grace.” 

“Heather Gerken is a visionary and transformative individual who led Yale Law School with her heart and her values,” said James Forman Jr., J. Skelly Wright Professor of Law at Yale Law School. “I have personally witnessed Heather's courage as she fought to ensure legal education serves the public interest. As dean, Heather has championed faculty and students pursuing work with real-world impact and taken on seemingly intractable challenges, from law school rankings to student affordability. Heather has worked tirelessly to make legal education more accessible and welcoming for people from all socioeconomic backgrounds and from every part of this nation.”

“Today, the name Heather Gerken is all but synonymous with American democracy and the rule of law, the Yale Law School Dean having been one of the most passionate, articulate, and influential national leaders defending America’s democracy and rule of law,” said Judge Michael Luttig, former 4th Circuit Judge of the United States Court of Appeals. “Universally recognized and admired for her courageous and visionary leadership of uniting rather than dividing people of differences, Heather Gerken is an especially inspired choice to serve as the venerated Ford Foundation’s next president at this perilous time in history. Wherever there is hope, promise, and common cause to be found for an embattled and beleaguered nation and world, Heather Gerken will find it.”

“Heather Gerken is an extraordinary leader — brilliant, humble, and filled with integrity,” said Former United States Attorney Damian Williams. “I have known her for 20 years, and her commitment to justice and democracy has always been bone-deep. Heather embodies the best of our profession. And I cannot wait to see what she accomplishes in this next chapter at the Ford Foundation.”

Gerken joined the Yale Law School faculty 20 years ago and became dean in 2017, the first woman to serve as dean in its 200-year history. Prior to her time at Yale, Gerken was a professor at Harvard Law School and was an associate at Jenner & Block, where she litigated voting rights cases and helped reach a significant settlement in a housing desegregation case. Gerken has clerked for United States Supreme Court Justice David H. Souter and Judge Stephen Reinhardt in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 9th Circuit. 

Gerken's scholarly writings have been featured in The Atlantic, The Boston Globe, NPR, The New York Times, and Time Magazine. She is the author of “The Democracy Index: Why Our Election System is Failing and How to Fix It,” and she edited “Race, Reform, and Regulation of the Electoral Process: Recurring Puzzles in American Democracy.”

Gerken received her juris doctor degree from the University of Michigan Law School and a bachelor of arts degree from Princeton University. She is a member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences and the American Law Institute. Gerken serves as a trustee of Princeton University and the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation.