Dear Members of the Yale Community,
I am pleased to announce the appointment of Cristina M. Rodríguez, the Leighton Homer Surbeck Professor of Law, as the Sol and Lillian Goldman Dean and Professor of Law at Yale Law School, effective February 1, 2026.
A leading scholar, educator, and lawyer, she has worked for twenty-five years in academia and public service. She currently serves as the deputy dean at the Law School, as well as the faculty director of the Carol and Gene Ludwig Program in Public Sector Leadership, part of the Tsai Leadership Program, which prepares students for careers in government, nonprofits, and other institutions focused on serving the public.
Cristina is a highly regarded and influential scholar who has authored more than seventy articles and essays on constitutional law, administrative governance, and immigration law in top legal journals and other major academic publications. Her recent research has focused on the relationships between administrative and executive governance, and she is the co-author of a nationally acclaimed book exploring two centuries of American immigration policy. Her scholarly accomplishments have been recognized nationally: Cristina was elected to the American Academy of Arts & Sciences, one of the nation’s most prestigious honorary societies, in 2020, and to the Council of the American Law Institute in 2022.
In her teaching, Cristina demonstrates a deep passion for mentoring and inspiring students. She has taught courses that range across constitutional law and theory, administrative law and process, and immigration law and policy. In recognition of the intellectual depth and personal care with which she engages with her students, Yale Law Women+ awarded her its Faculty Excellence Award in 2020. She has taught at five of the leading law schools in the United States, including NYU, Stanford, Harvard, and Columbia, helping to shape the next generation of lawyers and scholars at those institutions.
Cristina’s distinguished public service and demonstrated commitment to the rule of law have been touchstones of her career. In 2021, she co-chaired the bipartisan Presidential Commission on the Supreme Court of the United States. Prior to joining the Law School faculty in 2013, she served for two years as deputy assistant attorney general in the Office of Legal Counsel at the U.S. Department of Justice. While there, she received an Attorney General’s Award for Distinguished Service, one of the highest honors given to employees of the Department of Justice, and she was recognized by the White House for her outstanding work.
Born in San Antonio, Texas, Cristina is a 1995 graduate of Yale College and attended Oxford University as a Rhodes Scholar. She earned her J.D. from Yale Law School in 2000, where she was an Articles Editor of the Yale Law Journal and received the Benjamin Scharps Prize for the best paper by a third-year student and the Carolyn E. Agger Award for Women in Law. Following law school, Cristina clerked for Judge David S. Tatel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit and Justice Sandra Day O’Connor of the U.S. Supreme Court.
Cristina’s dedication to this university is evident through years of longstanding service. She has served as the co-director of Yale Law School’s Global Constitutionalism Seminar, co-chair of the University Committee on Institutional Voice, and chair of the Law School’s Academic Appointments Committee. She has also been a member of numerous other committees that have worked to enhance the student experience and intellectual environment at Yale.
Cristina’s commitment to scholarship, excellence, and service make her the ideal person to lead Yale Law School, and the entire Yale community is fortunate to have such a devoted and experienced leader take the helm. I have no doubt that under Cristina’s principled leadership, Yale Law School will continue to produce pathbreaking scholarship and embody the highest ideals of the legal profession.
I am deeply grateful to Interim Dean and Shibley Family Fund Professor Yair Listokin for his steadfast and thoughtful leadership of the Law School during this transition period. I would also like to thank Sterling Professor Emeritus of Law Heather K. Gerken for her transformative leadership of Yale Law School as dean for eight years.
In addition, I am grateful to everyone in the Yale community who participated in the dean search process for providing valuable insights and feedback over the past several months. We owe a tremendous debt to the Dean Search Committee and its co-chairs, Professors Doug Kysar and Tracey Meares, as well as committee members Professors Jack Balkin, Miriam Gohara, Jon Macey, Natasha Sarin, and Gideon Yaffe for their tireless work on behalf of the Law School during this important process.
Please join me in congratulating Cristina on her new role as dean. I know she will work hand in hand with faculty, staff, students, and alumni as she leads the extraordinary Yale Law School community into its bright future.
Sincerely,
Maurie McInnis
President
Professor of the History of Art