Professor Cristina M. Rodríguez ’00, began her tenure as the dean of Yale Law School in early 2026.

Her recent research has focused on the relationships between administrative and executive governance, and she is the co-author of “The President and Immigration Law” (Oxford University Press, 2020), a nuanced exploration of two centuries of presidential influence over the metes and bounds of American immigration policy, co-authored with Adam B. Cox. At a 2021 symposium, legal scholars called the book a “remarkable scholarly achievement” and a work of “big arguments, grand scale, and historical sweep, yet also institutional detail, political acuity, and legal nuance.” 

As a widely published and influential scholar, Rodríguez has authored more than 70 academic articles and essays on constitutional law, administrative governance, and immigration law in the Yale Law Journal, the Harvard Law Review, and numerous other scholarly journals and media publications. She has been a sought-after expert by outlets such as The New York Times, NPR, The New Yorker, The Washington Post, and The Wall Street Journal. 

In 2020, Rodríguez was elected to the American Academy of Arts & Sciences, one of the nation’s most prestigious honorary societies. She is a member of the Council of the American Law Institute, as well as the Administrative Conference of the United States, and has been a past member of the Council on Foreign Relations. In recognition of her passion and skill in the classroom, Yale Law Women+ awarded Rodríguez its Excellence in Teaching Award in 2020.  

Throughout her career, Rodríguez has displayed a commitment to the rule of law and to public service. In 2021, the president appointed Rodríguez to co-chair the bipartisan Presidential Commission on the Supreme Court of the United States.  

Rodríguez joined Yale Law School in 2013 after serving 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, as well as recognition from the White House for her outstanding work. 

Since joining the faculty, Rodríguez has contributed to the University and Law School communities in numerous roles. In addition to being deputy dean, Rodríguez has served as co-chair of Yale’s University Committee on Institutional Voice, appointed by President McInnis; co-director of Yale Law School’s Global Constitutionalism Seminar; chair of the Academic Appointments Committee at the Law School; and as a member of numerous other committees that have worked to improve the student experience and intellectual environment at Yale.  

Rodríguez also currently serves as faculty co-director of the Carol and Gene Ludwig Program in Public Sector Leadership, part of The Tsai Leadership Program. The Ludwig Program helps prepare students for careers in government, the nonprofit sector, and other institutions focused on serving the public. As part of The Tsai Leadership Program, Rodríguez has led several events in the Crossing Divides series to bring together leaders from across the ideological spectrum to model open inquiry and robust debate to students.  

A native of San Antonio, Texas, Rodríguez earned her B.A. in history from Yale College in 1995. She attended Oxford University as a Rhodes Scholar, where she received a master of letters in modern history in 1998. She earned her J.D. from Yale Law School in 2000. During law school, Rodríguez 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 her graduation from law school, Rodríguez 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. She was on the faculty at the New York University School of Law from 2004 to 2012 and has been a visiting professor at Stanford, Harvard, and Columbia law schools, helping to shape the next generation of lawyers and scholars at those institutions.