Heather Gerken, the Sol & Lillian Goldman Professor of Law and dean of Yale Law School, has recently been appointed the eleventh president of the Ford Foundation, a philanthropic organization dedicated to investing in programs and scholars who are working to address inequality in all forms, drive social justice, and build movements across the globe. Gerken will assume her presidency in November.
A Yale faculty member for two decades, Gerken has served as dean of the Ivy League law school for the past eight years. Alongside her fellow faculty members, she has launched several student leadership initiatives, two pipeline-to-law school programs, a full-tuition scholarship program for low-income students, and the Center for Academic Freedom and Free Speech. Under Gerken’s leadership, the law school has significantly increased its representation of veteran students, first-generation college students, and students from low-income backgrounds. In addition to her work as dean, Gerken leads Yale’s San Francisco Affirmative Litigation Project Clinic.
An expert on constitutional law and democracy, Gerken has conducted extensive research on election reform, informing policy at a national level. Before Yale, she taught 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. She has also clerked for the United States Supreme Court Justice David H. Souter and Judge Stephen Reinhardt in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit.
“It is a profound honor to join the Ford Foundation and build upon the legacy of those who came before me, particularly the astonishing [former Ford Foundation president] Darren Walker,” said Gerken. “I am deeply grateful for this opportunity and look forward to working with Ford staff and the board of trustees to protect democracy and the rule of law and further our mission to create a more just and fair world for everyone.”
Gerken received her bachelor’s degree from Princeton University and her juris doctorate from the University of Michigan.