Yale Law News
Cristina Rodríguez ’95 LAW ’00, a professor of constitutional, immigration and administrative law and Yale Law School’s deputy dean, was named the Law School’s next dean.
Rodríguez, who was the first tenured Hispanic law professor at Yale, will be the second woman to serve as the Law School’s dean after Heather Gerken, who recently departed from Yale to head the Ford Foundation. Rodríguez was a co-chair on University President Maurie McInnis’s Committee on Institutional Voice, which published a report in October 2024 recommending that university leaders and administrators not comment on matters of public significance, except in rare circumstances.
Rodríguez — who joined the Law School faculty in 2013 — has centered her scholarship on constitutional law, immigration law and administrative governance. She will assume the deanship on Feb. 1.
“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,” McInnis wrote in a Friday announcement that described Rodríguez as “a leading scholar, educator, and lawyer.”
Rodríguez graduated from Yale College in 1995 with a degree in history and from Yale Law School in 2000, studying at the University of Oxford as a Rhodes Scholar in between. A press release from Yale Law School highlighted her election to the American Academy of Arts and Sciences in 2020 and the Council of the American Law Institute in 2022.
Gerken, the former dean, left the Law School in August after announcing suddenly in July that she would take over the Ford Foundation as its president. Yair Listokin LAW ’05 has served as interim dean since Aug. 1 while a committee of seven Law School professors convened to search for Gerken’s replacement.
In her Friday announcement, McInnis touted Rodríguez’s work on the institutional voice committee, as well as her role as co-director of Yale Law School’s Global Constitutionalism Seminar and chair of the Law School’s Academic Appointments Committee. Rodríguez is also the faculty Co-Director of the Ludwig Program in Public Sector Leadership.
In an opinion article published in the News shortly after the Committee on Institutional Voice released its report, Rodríguez and the committee’s other co-chair — philosophy professor Michael Della Rocca — wrote that administrators “must exercise good judgment in the form of practical intelligence, wisdom, or discernment” when deciding whether to take public stances on significant issues.
“Time and again in our listening sessions and other meetings, we heard that when University leaders speak on one issue but not others, some members of the community feel marginalized because of the differential and seemingly arbitrary treatment of their concerns,” Rodríguez and Della Rocca wrote.
Della Rocca wrote to the News that he was “delighted” by Rodríguez’s appointment.
“Through our work together on the Committee on Institutional Voice, I came to know Professor Rodríguez as fair-minded, non-doctrinaire, and a good listener. She is a scholar who combines brilliant intellectual leadership with a deep commitment to Yale and especially to sustaining and enhancing a setting that fosters productive discourse about important ideas,” Della Rocca wrote.
Rodríguez clerked for Associate Justice Sandra Day O’Connor on the Supreme Court and Judge David Tatel on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit.
Yale Law School professor Justin Driver served with Rodríguez on President Joe Biden’s commission on the Supreme Court. The commission, which Rodríguez co-chaired, studied potential Supreme Court reform, including term-limits and increasing the number of seats on the court, according to the New York Times. The commission issued a report to Biden but made few recommendations.
“Yale Law School has exhibited great wisdom in tapping Cristina as our leader, particularly during this fraught moment for higher education,” Justin Driver, a law professor, wrote to the News. “I worked closely with Cristina on the presidential commission, and came away more impressed than ever by her intelligence, thoughtfulness, leadership, and energy.”
Rodríguez has been cited in WBUR and the New York Times in legal discussion on the Trump administration’s student arrests and attacks on birthright citizenship.
Akhil Amar ’80 LAW ’84, a professor of law and political science, emphasized the length of Rodríguez’s Yale ties, describing her as a “true-blue Yalie” and someone “who joined the Yale faculty at a young age.”
“In all these respects she resembles Guido Calabresi, the greatest law dean in Yale’s history. Like Guido, Cristina is also a Rhodes Scholar. And should the Democrats win the White House in either 2028 or 2032, she’d still be young enough to become a Supreme Court Justice, if the stars align,” Amar added.
David Haungs LAW ’26, the president of Yale’s Federalist Society, congratulated Rodríguez on her appointment in a message to the News.
“We hope to work with her to make Yale Law School a welcoming place for conservative students and views,” Haungs wrote.
Hannah Terrapin LAW ’26 called Rodríguez an “excellent choice.”
“She cares about her students, the school, and the world around her,” Terrapin wrote to the News. “YLS needs someone like Professor Rodríguez at the helm of the ship during these tumultuous times.”
Rodríguez will be the 18th dean of the Law School.
