Heather Kristin Gerken (born February 19, 1969) is an American legal scholar, currently the 17th dean of

Yale Law School Yale Law School (YLS) is the law school of Yale University, a Private university, private research university in New Haven, Connecticut. It was established in 1824. The 2020–21 acceptance rate was 4%, the lowest of any law school in the United ...

, has been appointed as the next President of the

Ford Foundation The Ford Foundation is an American private foundation with the stated goal of advancing human welfare. Created in 1936 by Edsel Ford and his father Henry Ford, it was originally funded by a $25,000 (about $550,000 in 2023) gift from Edsel Ford. ...

, succeeding Darren Walker, with her tenure set to begin in November 2025.

Early life and education

Gerken grew up in

Bolton, Massachusetts Bolton is a town in Worcester County, Massachusetts, United States. Bolton is in central Massachusetts, located 25 miles west-northwest of downtown Boston along Interstate 495. It is within Greater Boston and MetroWest regions. The population ...

. She was educated at

Nashoba Regional High School Nashoba Regional High School (NRHS) is a high school (grades 9–12) that is part of the Nashoba Regional School District. It is located in Bolton, Massachusetts, United States and also serves the towns of Lancaster and Stow. As of the 2024–20 ...

, graduated in 1987, and received a Presidential Scholarship. In 1991, Gerken graduated ''

summa cum laude Latin honors are a system of Latin phrases used in some colleges and universities to indicate the level of distinction with which an academic degree has been earned. The system is primarily used in the United States. It is also used in some Sout ...

'' from

Princeton University Princeton University is a private university, private Ivy League research university in Princeton, New Jersey, United States. Founded in 1746 in Elizabeth, New Jersey, Elizabeth as the College of New Jersey, Princeton is the List of Colonial ...

with a

Bachelor of Arts A Bachelor of Arts (abbreviated B.A., BA, A.B. or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is the holder of a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the liberal arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts deg ...

in history after completing a 123-page long senior thesis titled "Stepping Out of the Bounds of Womanhood: An Analysis of the Popular Image of Women and Women's Experiences during World War II". She was the recipient of the university's Dodds Prize, given to top seniors, and the Kenneth C. Harris Award for research. After college, Gerken enrolled in the

University of Michigan Law School The University of Michigan Law School (branded as Michigan Law) is the law school of the University of Michigan, a public research university in Ann Arbor, Michigan. Founded in 1859, the school offers Master of Laws (LLM), Master of Comparati ...

on a full-tuition scholarship. She graduated in 1994 with a

Juris Doctor A Juris Doctor, Doctor of Jurisprudence, or Doctor of Law (JD) is a graduate-entry professional degree that primarily prepares individuals to practice law. In the United States and the Philippines, it is the only qualifying law degree. Other j ...

, ''summa cum laude'', and membership in the

Order of the Coif The Order of the Coif () is an American honor society for law school graduates. The Order was founded in 1902 at the University of Illinois College of Law. The name is a reference to the ancient English order of trial lawyers, the serjeants-at-la ...

. She was editor-in-chief of the ''

Michigan Law Review The ''Michigan Law Review'' is an American law review and the flagship law journal of the University of Michigan Law School. History The ''Michigan Law Review'' was established in 1902, after Gustavus Ohlinger, a student in the Law Department ...

'' and was named the commencement speaker of her class. Gerken was a

law clerk A law clerk, judicial clerk, or judicial assistant is a person, often a lawyer, who provides direct counsel and assistance to a lawyer or judge by Legal research, researching issues and drafting legal opinions for cases before the court. Judicial ...

for Judge

Stephen Reinhardt Stephen Roy Reinhardt (born Stephen Roy Shapiro; March 27, 1931 – March 29, 2018) was a United States circuit judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit, with chambers in Los Angeles, California. He was the last federal ...

of the

U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit The United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit (in case citations, 9th Cir.) is the U.S. federal court of appeals that has appellate jurisdiction over the U.S. district courts for the following federal judicial districts: * District ...

from 1994–1995, and then for Justice

David Souter David Hackett Souter ( ; September 17, 1939 – May 8, 2025) was an American lawyer and jurist who served as an Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States from 1990 until his retirement in 2009. Appointed by President George H ...

at the

U.S. Supreme Court The Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS) is the highest court in the federal judiciary of the United States. It has ultimate appellate jurisdiction over all U.S. federal court cases, and over state court cases that turn on question ...

from 1995–1996.

Career

She was an associate at

Jenner & Block Jenner & Block is an American law firm with offices in Century City, Chicago, London, Los Angeles, New York City, San Francisco, and Washington, D.C. The firm is active in corporate litigation, business transactions, the public sector, and oth ...

Washington, D.C. Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly known as Washington or D.C., is the capital city and federal district of the United States. The city is on the Potomac River, across from Virginia, and shares land borders with ...

, from December 1996 to July 2000. From July 2000 to June 2006, she was a professor at

Harvard Law School Harvard Law School (HLS) is the law school of Harvard University, a Private university, private research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1817, Harvard Law School is the oldest law school in continuous operation in the United ...

, where she was also a fellow at the Harvard University Center for Ethics and the Profession from September 2003 to July 2004. In 2006 Gerken joined Yale Law School and in 2008 she became the inaugural J. Skelly Wright Professor of Law. In 2009, in her book The Democracy Index (Princeton University Press), she proposed an index that would rate and compare the performance of elections systems at the state and local levels, to evaluate and improve the U.S. elections system. She became dean of

in 2017, and in the same year she was elected a Fellow of the

American Academy of Arts and Sciences The American Academy of Arts and Sciences (The Academy) is one of the oldest learned societies in the United States. It was founded in 1780 during the American Revolution by John Adams, John Hancock, James Bowdoin, Andrew Oliver, and other ...

. In 2021, she was named to the Presidential Commission on the

Supreme Court of the United States The Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS) is the highest court in the federal judiciary of the United States. It has ultimate appellate jurisdiction over all Federal tribunals in the United States, U.S. federal court cases, and over Stat ...

, created by President

Joe Biden Joseph Robinette Biden Jr. (born November 20, 1942) is an American politician who was the 46th president of the United States from 2021 to 2025. A member of the Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Party, he served as the 47th vice p ...

in order to "provide an analysis of the principal arguments in the contemporary public debate for and against Supreme Court reform" in the context of evaluating the history and future of the court and its practices. In January 2022, Yale University President

Peter Salovey Peter Salovey (; born February 21, 1958) is an American social psychologist and former academic administrator. He served as the 23rd president of Yale University from 2013 to 2024. He previously served as provost of Yale University from 2008 ...

announced that Gerken had been reappointed as dean of Yale Law School for a second five-year term. While at Yale Law, she also serves as the Sol & Lillian Goldman Professor of Law. In July 2025, Yale announced that Gerken will step down in August to become president of the

Personal life

Gerken is the great-granddaughter of Sir Ernest Bland Royden. Gerken is married to David Simon.

Bibliography

* ''The Democracy Index: Why Our Election System is Failing and How to Fix It'' (

Princeton University Press Princeton University Press is an independent publisher with close connections to Princeton University. Its mission is to disseminate scholarship within academia and society at large. The press was founded by Whitney Darrow, with the financial ...

2009) *
Slipping the Bonds of Federalism
, 128 ''

Harvard Law Review The ''Harvard Law Review'' is a law review published by an independent student group at Harvard Law School. According to the ''Journal Citation Reports'', the ''Harvard Law Review''s 2015 impact factor of 4.979 placed the journal first out of ...

'' 85 (2014) * "The Political Safeguards of Horizontal Federalism", 113 ''

'' 57 (2014) (with Ari Holtzblatt) * "The Real Problem with Citizens United: Campaign Finance, Dark Money, and Shadow Parties", 97 ''

Marquette Law Review The ''Marquette Law Review'' is a quarterly law review edited by students at Marquette University Law School. Articles, essays, and student-written notes and comments from the review are accessible in PDF format on its web site, as well as online ...

'' 904 (2014) * "Uncooperative Federalism", 118 ''

Yale Law Journal ''The Yale Law Journal'' (YLJ) is a student-run law review affiliated with the Yale Law School. Published continuously since 1891, it is the most widely known of the eight law reviews published by students at Yale Law School. The journal is one ...

'' 1256 (2009) (with Jessica Bulman-Pozen)

References

External links