Stanford University Appoints Jenny Martinez as Its Next Provost

Jenny S. Martinez, dean of Stanford Law School and the Richard E. Lang Professor of Law, has been named the fourteenth provost of Stanford University, effective October 1.

“I’m honored to take on this role and to get the new academic year off to a good start,” said Professor Martinez. “The fundamentals at Stanford are incredibly strong – among other things, we have the best faculty and students in the world. I am looking forward to listening to members of our community about how best to advance our core missions of education and research in the coming months and years.”

In addition to her position as dean and professor of law, Martinez is a senior fellow of Stanford’s Freeman Spogli Institute for International Studies. Prior to her appointment as law school dean, she served as associate dean for curriculum from 2013 to 2016. An experienced litigator as well as a scholar, Professor Martinez teaches courses on constitutional law and international law. She is a leading expert on the role of courts and tribunals in advancing human rights. Professor Martinez is the author of The Slave Trade and the Origins of International Human Rights Law (Oxford University Press, 2012).

Professor Martinez holds a bachelor’s degree from Yale University and earned a juris doctorate at Harvard Law School, where she was managing editor of the Harvard Law Review.