School Notes: Yale Law School
September/October 2009

Newest Supreme Court justice is Yale Law graduate

President Obama's first appointment to the U.S. Supreme Court is Yale Law School alumnus Sonia Sotomayor ’79JD, who is the first Hispanic ever to sit on the High Court, and only the third woman. Nominated by the president on May 26 to fill the seat vacated by Justice David Souter, Sotomayor was confirmed by the U.S. Senate on August 6 and sworn in on August 8. She is the seventh Yale Law graduate to serve on the Supreme Court, and one of three currently serving. At Yale Sotomayor was an editor of the Yale Law Journal and managing editor of the Yale Studies in World Public Order.

YLS alumnus named dean of Yale Law School

Robert C. Post ’77JD was named dean and Sol and Lillian Goldman Professor of Law at Yale Law School on June 22. He assumed his duties as dean on July 1. Post joined the Law School faculty in 2003 as David Boies Professor of Law, specializing in the area of constitutional law, including the First Amendment, equal protection, and legal history. Prior to joining Yale Law School, he spent 20 years teaching law at the University of California-Berkeley law school. "As a leading constitutional scholar and a respected citizen of the legal profession, Robert Post is ideally positioned to move the Yale Law School forward," said university president Richard Levin. "He is greatly admired by his colleagues for his wisdom and judgment, and his commitment to sustaining the excellence of the Law School is unwavering." Post is the 16th dean of Yale Law School, succeeding Harold Hongju Koh.

Harold Hongju Koh confirmed legal adviser of U.S. State Department

Harold Hongju Koh, who served as the 15th dean of Yale Law School since 2004, took a leave from the Law School on June 25 when he was confirmed by the U.S. Senate as legal adviser of the U.S. Department of State. He had been nominated for the position by President Obama on March 23. An expert on public and private international law, national security law, and human rights, Koh joined the Yale Law faculty in 1985 and served as the Gerard C. and Bernice Latrobe Smith Professor of International Law. He will return to teach at Yale Law School as the Martin R. Flug ’55 Professor of International Law when his public service ends. In his new position Koh will advise on all legal issues, domestic and international, arising in the course of the state department's work.