Dear Members of the Yale Law School Community,
As I announced on July 1, Dean Heather K. Gerken will step down from her leadership role at Yale Law School at the end of this month to prepare for her new position as president of the Ford Foundation. I am grateful to Dean Gerken for her exceptional service to the law school and to Yale. Over the course of eight years, Dean Gerken has redefined legal education by bolstering need-based aid, supporting veterans and low-income students, and expanding access to legal education.
Over the past few weeks, I have consulted with Dean Gerken and other members of the faculty about the best way to guide the school through this transition as the law school conducts a search for the next dean. Following these conversations, I have asked Yair Listokin ’05 JD, Shibley Family Fund Professor of Law, to serve as interim dean effective August 1, 2025. Professor Listokin, who has served for the past three years as the deputy dean at Yale Law School, will work closely with the faculty and senior leadership team to ensure there is a smooth transition while a search for the next dean of Yale Law School commences.
Professor Listokin is a distinguished scholar in the field of law and economics. His areas of expertise include tax law, corporate law, and Jewish Law. Professor Listokin’s book Law and Macroeconomics: Legal Remedies to Recessions played a key role in launching the emerging academic field of law and macroeconomics. Professor Listokin also serves as the faculty director of the Howard Wexler Brodie ’93 Center for Jewish and Israeli Law at Yale Law School. Professor Listokin has been honored as a distinguished fellow of the Hebrew University School of Law and a Milton Friedman Fellow of the Becker-Friedman Institute at the University of Chicago and has served as a visiting professor at law schools at Columbia, Harvard, and NYU. His work has appeared in leading scholarly publications and major media outlets.
Given the depth of his experience as deputy dean and deep understanding of academic affairs at the law school, I am confident Professor Listokin will be a steadfast and thoughtful leader during this period of transition. I am grateful to him for stepping up to serve the school at this moment.
To that end, I have formed a Dean Search Committee to review potential candidates to succeed Dean Gerken. The Dean Search Committee will be chaired by Doug Kysar, Joseph M. Field ’55 Professor of Law, and Tracey Meares, Walton Hale Hamilton Professor of Law.
The other members of the committee are as follows:
- Jack Balkin, Knight Professor of Constitutional Law and the First Amendment
- Miriam Gohara, Clinical Professor of Law
- Jon Macey, Sam Harris Professor of Corporate Law, Corporate Finance, and Securities Law
- Natasha Sarin, Professor of Law
- Gideon Yaffe, Wesley Newcomb Hohfeld Professor of Jurisprudence
I wish to thank the members of the committee for volunteering their time to lead this important search process over the next several months. The Dean Search Committee will conduct outreach to Yale Law School faculty members, staff, students, and alumni, as well as other members of the university community. If you would like to provide feedback to the committee, please use the webform.
The committee and I welcome your input during the search process, and we will provide updates as the search progresses.
Sincerely,
Maurie McInnis
President
Professor of the History of Art