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. 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. 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.

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. 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. 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.

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. 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. 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. In 2017, Heather K. Gerken became the school's seventeenth dean and the first woman to hold the office. Following Gerken's departure in 2025, Yair Listokin served as interim dean from August 1, 2025, to January 30, 2026. Cristina M. Rodríguez assumed office on February 1, 2026, becoming Yale Law School's eighteenth dean.

Deans +

Image Name

Term start Term end

1

1873 1903

2

1903 1916

3

1916 1927

4

1925 1927 1929

5

1913 1929 1939

6

1922 1940 1946

7

1923 1946 1954

8

1954 1955

9

1937 1955 1965

10

1948 1965 1970

11

1949 1970 1975

12

1975 1985

13

1958 1985 1994

14

1975 1994 2004

15

2004 2009

16

1977 2009 2017

17

July 1, 2017 July 31, 2025

interim

2005 August 1, 2025 January 30, 2026

18

2000 February 1, 2026 present

References

See also Law school dean