An Extraordinary Leader

“You shouldn’t love an institution — I know that — but I have always loved this one from the moment I stepped across its threshold,” Gerken said in her remarks to alumni. “Leading the Law School across the last eight years has not always been easy, but it has always been a gift, and that is because of the people who are in this building and around it.” 

Gerken went on to express her deep admiration for the community’s unyielding support throughout her deanship, crediting them for making her eight years at the helm so fulfilling and joyful. 

Gerken, who became the first female dean of the Law School in 2017, was appointed to head the Ford Foundation as its 11th president in 2025. As part of the award ceremony’s introductory remarks, former dean and Sterling Professor of International Law Harold Hongju Koh acknowledged Gerken’s unparalleled influence and meteoric rise throughout legal education and beyond. 

“Today, as she heads to her global future, let us just take this moment to say how proud we are to have watched this remarkable person grow from lawyer to leader to legend. To appreciate how very lucky we’ve been to have her as a colleague and friend for these 20 years…to realize how much we’ve lost, but also how much we gained,” said Koh.

Those who had the privilege of studying and working under Gerken’s leadership know firsthand the profound love she has for the Law School. 

“If you wonder how good of a dean she was, ask yourself: Did you ever know a student or staff member who didn’t love her? Did you ever hear a professor complain that she wasn’t there for them when they were in times of need? Did anyone ever question her commitment to the School, or that she wasn’t all in with blood, sweat, and tears? Did you ever hear her complain that it was too much, or there was a bridge too far? No, you did not. Because for Heather Gerken, this was the job, and whether or not people were looking, she was ready to do it,” said Koh. 

He continued, “This is what leadership looks like, and we have had an extraordinary leader.”

Gerken often referred to the “restless spirit” embedded deep in the ethos of the Law School, and she would credit it as the driving force behind all her key initiatives as dean. 

“The Law School is always trying to figure out how to be a better version of itself and never rests on its laurels,” said Gerken in an interview reflecting on the School’s bicentennial celebration in 2024. “There are always more ways we can give back to New Haven and serve communities across the globe. That combination of extraordinary potential and restless energy is what makes it so exciting to lead this institution.” 

This restlessness empowered her to make bold moves as dean, such as withdrawing the Law School from the U.S. News and World Report rankings after being the number-one school for three decades. That striking decision created an earthquake across legal education, prompting more than 60 other law schools and some medical schools to withdraw themselves from the once vaunted rankings. It also sparked a critical conversation about bolstering need-based financial aid, as well as an important discussion across higher education on the serious detriments of the commercial ranking system.

“Heather’s decision to opt out of the U.S. News rankings helped level the playing field in legal education because some competitive schools drove up their standing in the rankings by offering highperforming students, regardless of need, scholarships to attract them and drive up the metrics that U.S. News ratings valued,” said Miriam Gohara, deputy dean for experiential education and clinical professor of law. “After Heather led the way, peer schools followed.” 

“Leaders in legal education should do everything they can to ensure students of all backgrounds have the support and resources they need to enter our profession and contribute to society,” Gerken said in a statement following the Law School’s departure in November 2022. “Granting exclusive access to a flawed commercial rankings system is counterproductive to the mission of this profession and the core values of Yale Law School. While I do not take this decision lightly, now is the time for us to walk away from the rankings in order to pursue our own path forward as we work to advance legal education.” 

Six months earlier, it was these same ideals that motivated Gerken to launch the first-of-its-kind Hurst Horizon Scholarship Program, a full-tuition scholarship for students with significant financial need that created a seismic shift in how financial aid in legal education is viewed. Today, the number of students receiving the scholarship has nearly doubled since the program’s inception, with 15% of current J.D.s benefitting from a tuition-free law school education. Nearly 100 students walk the halls of Yale Law School today thanks to this scholarship program. The program inspired several peer schools to do the same, a trend that accelerated following the exodus from the rankings. 

“One of Gerken’s most impactful legacies is making the Law School more accessible to exceptionally talented and well deserving students from the lowest income backgrounds,” said Gohara. “The Hurst Horizon Scholarship has put Yale Law School’s sterling education within these students’ reach, and peer schools have started to follow suit.” 

Not only was the scholarship revolutionary in the world of legal education, but it also defines the Law School’s unparalleled financial assistance offerings, which continue to outpace peer institutions. Through a number of new initiatives, the number of Law School students who are the first in their families to attend graduate or professional school has increased by approximately 50% and the number of first-generation college students has gone up by roughly 80%. 

Gerken’s tremendous efforts to make legal education more accessible proved successful; her time as dean saw the most diverse classes in the Law School’s 200-year history and ushered in two pipeline programs to help students reach their goals in getting into not only Yale Law School but schools around the country. 

Gerken also made it a high priority to support the community of student veterans at the Law School, which rose from 1% to 10% throughout her deanship. This was accomplished through recruiting efforts, participation in the Yellow Ribbon Program, and fostering community at the School. 

“Dean Gerken’s tenure will be remembered for her extraordinary ability to open doors for others,” said Doug Kysar, the Joseph M. Field ’55 Professor of Law. “Gerken championed students and faculty alike, fostering an environment where new voices and new ideas could thrive. Her impact will be felt not only in the halls of YLS, but throughout all of higher education and the legal profession.”

Gerken’s vision, robust fundraising efforts, and strong fiscal management of the School enabled her to continually innovate by building out new programs with an eye toward the future. After speaking with thousands of alumni, Gerken realized that the School needed to rethink its approach to legal education and launched the biggest program of her tenure: The Tsai Leadership Program, which started in 2021 on the heels of the covid-19 pandemic. The transformative program trains students to excel across every sector of society — both within and beyond the law — to address the most pressing challenges in an ever-changing world, equipping them with the skills they’ll need to lead during uncertain times. 

As part of leadership training, Gerken established the Ronnie F. Heyman ’72 Crossing Divides Program, to foster discourse across the political and ideological spectrum and reinforce the core values of lawyering. During her deanship, Gerken also launched a Center for Academic Freedom and Free Speech and worked to increase ideological diversity on the faculty with the hires of Professors Keith Whittington and Garrett West ’18. She championed the core values of lawyering — a commitment to the rule of law, free speech, and academic freedom throughout her tenure, instilling those values in the students each year. 

“The hard work of lawyering also requires humility and a relentless willingness to question yourself,” said Gerken in her convocation address to incoming J.D. students in 2024, a theme that anchored her speeches each year. “You cannot be a lawyer unless you can understand — deep in your bones — what’s honorable in your opponent’s arguments and the weaknesses in your own.” 

“Dean Gerken encouraged people to talk to each other,” said John D. Morley ’06, Augustus E. Lines Professor of Law. “She was a model of civil dialogue in her own life. And she created programs like Crossing Divides to make sure the Law School remained committed to its deepest values of open intellectual inquiry.” 

Frank R. Jimenez ’91, president of the Yale Law School Association’s Executive Committee who has worked closely with Gerken, said her ability to bring people together and take ideas fullcircle made her an exceptional dean.

“It’s remarkable to find in a single person the ability not only to envision, structure, and launch enduring programs of record, but also to ‘hustle’ for the sizeable contributions required for the new scholarship, leadership, and speaker programs. Yet Heather made it all look easy,” said Jimenez. 

The “restless gene” also fueled Gerken to lead — with equal parts precision and compassion — during rapidly changing and often tumultuous times, especially during the covid-19 pandemic. Despite quarantines, worldwide travel bans, and government mandates, Gerken was able to retain the School’s academic excellence and protect her students, particularly those facing deportation threats from a federal ruling targeting international students. 

“Law practice requires pragmatism and compromise, no less than confrontation, and these qualities too helped Heather lead the School through unprecedented challenges,” said Michael J. Wishnie ’93, the William O. Douglas Clinical Professor of Law. “Through it all, her deanship was a model of integrity, courage, and grace.” 

“Dean Gerken’s work has been transformational for the Law School, allowing it to evolve gracefully to meet the needs of the day while maintaining the best of longstanding traditions and history,” said Leslie Gomez ’95, chair of Yale Law School Association’s Executive Committee. “She demonstrated tremendous intellectual curiosity and emotional intelligence — examining longstanding practices to ensure that they were tied to institutional mission and innovation in support of continued evolution and excellence at the Law School.”

Gerken is among the country’s leading experts on democracy, the rule of law, federalism, and elections, and her commitment to her teaching and scholarship never wavered. 

“Heather was a brilliant scholar and teacher before she became our fearless, principled, and wise dean,” said Wishnie. “She also somehow managed to continue teaching her clinic, the San Francisco Affirmative Litigation Project (SFALP) — one of the most popular in the School — even after she became dean, exploring in practice many of the ideas she theorized in her writing.” 

This amalgam of both theory and practice is a hallmark of the Law School, which Gerken fully embraced and championed while dean, even writing a Harvard Law Review article on the topic. 

“Heather blends theory and practice so seamlessly that reflecting on both in tandem becomes second nature for her students,” said Emma Sokoloff-Rubin ’18, who directs SFALP in addition to serving the Law School as a lecturer and research scholar. 

“Heather is also pure magic in the classroom,” said Sokoloff-Rubin. “She keeps track of every thread of conversation, delights in her students’ growth and contributions, and makes sure everyone knows they belong in the room.” 

“As both her clinical student and as someone involved in campus activities, I saw firsthand how she elevated dialogue in ways that reflected the highest ideals of the legal profession,” said Duncan Hosie ’21. “She pushed us to examine our biases, approach discourse with humility, and listen not just to reply but to try to understand.” 

He continued, “Through her mentorship and example, Heather created a school that trained not just capable lawyers but also more thoughtful people and compassionate citizens.”

Gerken was not simply a dean of a law school, but also a dean of the people who made up Yale Law School — and everyone felt it. Her commitment to students, faculty, alumni, and staff was as deep as it was sincere, and this in turn created a community that was tightknit and heartening. 

“Heather set a tone of kindness and respect throughout and garnered the admiration and affection of all sectors of the Law School community,” said Gohara. 

Throughout the Law School’s bicentennial year in 2024, Gerken traveled the world to meet with thousands of alumni who joined her in thoughtful conversation about the School and its mission. This fostered bonds with the alumni community that significantly increased their engagement with the School. 

In New Haven, Gerken made a point of ensuring that each member of the Law School community felt welcome. Every year, she would personally call each admitted student to congratulate them and discuss their goals. Faculty members received warm wishes on their birthday, every new hire was given a welcome within their first few days of employment, and every holiday season included a box of homemade cookies for faculty and staff, alike — and personally delivered, at that. Gerken modeled her deeply held view that friendships and respect across divides strengthened the intellectual community and built ties that weathered any storm. 

“Heather was extraordinary in her generosity, caring deeply for everyone she encountered, from first-year students to maintenance staff to major donors to faculty colleagues to New Haven residents with no ties to the School,” said Hosie. “For her, engaging across differences was never a slogan; it was a daily practice woven into her interactions.”

Looking back on eight years of growth and innovation, Gerken’s legacy will be one of a trailblazer — and the impact from the programs launched during her tenure will be felt for generations to come. 

Guido Calabresi ’58, former Dean and Sterling Professor Emeritus of Law, often references the School’s tradition of excellence and humanity, two qualities that Gerken has embodied throughout her tenure. 

“I have known personally all but two deans of the Yale Law School and every dean from 1916 to the present, and I can say with total confidence that there has been none that has been better than Heather,” said Guido. “When she came on the faculty, Supreme Court Justice David Souter [whom Gerken clerked for] said to me that I had no idea how lucky we were and how much we would love her. He repeated that when she became dean. He was absolutely right in both particulars.” 

With Gerken’s departure, the overarching sentiment in the Yale Law School community is gratitude — and a deep sense of appreciation for how her leadership has prepared the Law School to steer through the challenges of the moment and seize the opportunities that lie ahead. 

“The results speak for themselves: the Hurst Horizon Scholarship, The Tsai Leadership Program, the Crossing Divides Program, increased admission of military veterans, tangible efforts to strengthen faculty ideological diversity, the covid-19 pandemic response, and a courageous stand against the perverse incentives created by law school rankings,” said Jimenez. “Heather Gerken belongs on the Mt. Rushmore of Yale Law School deans.” 

“Heather is, without question, the greatest law school leader of her generation, and whoever finishes in second place cannot see her in the distance — not even with a squint,” said Justin Driver, the Robert R. Slaughter Professor of Law. “Her legacy is awesome — in both the old-school and the new-school senses of that word. Heather seamlessly blends qualities that are seldom glimpsed in the same human being — visionary and tireless, brilliant and personable, charismatic and detail-oriented, brave and prudent. I personally will miss Heather and her first-rate leadership beyond all measure, and so will Yale.”