Published in Inside Philanthropy

By Michael Kavate

Listen closely and you could have almost heard the phones pinging this week.

The Ford Foundation has chosen the dean of Yale Law School, Heather Gerken, to replace Darren Walker as its leader and commander of its $17 billion warchest.

Gerken, who will step into the role in November, brings a truly elite resume to the New York grantmaking giant: she attended Princeton, clerked for U.S. Supreme Court Justice David H. Souter, taught at Harvard Law School, has been named on lists of top teachers and thinkers by institutions from Harvard to Politico, and publishes not just in the learned pages of outlets like the Stanford Law Review but in more accessible places like The Atlantic and Vox. An elite lineup of friends have also voiced support for her appointment, including Yale Law’s prior dean, Robert Post, Princeton University’s current president, Christopher Eisgruber, and former NAACP Legal Defense Fund President Sherrilyn Ifill — not to mention one Darren Walker.

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