John C.P. Goldberg named Harvard Law School dean

John C.P. Goldberg.

Veasey Conway/Harvard Staff Photographer

Campus & Community
John C.P. Goldberg named Harvard Law School dean

Leading scholar in tort law and political philosophy has served as interim dean since March 2024

June 30, 2025 4 min read

John C.P. Goldberg, Carter Professor of General Jurisprudence, has been named the Morgan and Helen Chu Dean and Professor of Law of Harvard Law School. He steps into the permanent role after serving as interim dean since March of last year.

“Throughout our search process, we sought a leader who could navigate today’s complex landscape and continue to build on the Law School’s academic strengths and impact. John is that leader,” said President Alan M. Garber. “He has an unwavering belief in excellence and inclusion, and the essential role that academic freedom plays in nurturing both of those aims. We are delighted that he will continue to lead and serve Harvard Law School.”

Known for his integrity, intellect, and effective leadership, Goldberg has held several administrative positions that have given him extensive institutional knowledge of HLS. He has been a faculty member since 2008, served as deputy dean from 2017 to 2022, and been a member and chair of HLS-specific committees, such as the Lateral Appointments Committee.

In addition to his service to HLS, Goldberg has contributed to the University broadly throughout his tenure at Harvard. He has advised on an array of issues, serving as a member of committees such as the Provost’s Advisory Committee, the University Discrimination and Harassment Policy Steering Committee, and as chair of the Electronic Communications Policy Oversight Committee.

“I am deeply grateful for this opportunity to serve the students, faculty, staff, and graduates of Harvard Law School, particularly at a moment in which law and legal education are so salient,” Goldberg said. “Working together, we will continue to advance our understanding of the law, and to explore how it can best serve constitutional democracy, the rule of law, and the bedrock American principle of liberty and equal justice for all. In doing so, we will build on the best traditions of this great institution and our profession: rigorous inquiry and instruction, open and reasoned discourse, and conscientious and vigorous advocacy.”

Goldberg has published numerous works, ranging from textbooks to scholarly articles. An expert in tort law, Goldberg was the editor in chief of the Journal of Tort Law from 2009 to 2015 and remains a member of its editorial board. He also co-authored a leading casebook, “Tort Law: Responsibilities and Redress,” and “The Oxford Introductions to U.S. Law: Torts.” Goldberg is currently the co-editor in chief of the Journal of Legal Analysis and an editorial board member of the journal Legal Theory.

Along with his frequent co-author, Professor Benjamin Zipursky, Goldberg was recognized consecutively by the Association of American Law Schools with the Section on Torts and Compensation Systems William L. Prosser Award in 2023 and the Section on Jurisprudence Hart-Dworkin Award in Legal Philosophy in 2024. Their co-authored Harvard University Press book on the vital role of tort law in the legal system, “Recognizing Wrongs,” was given the Civil Justice Scholarship Award by the National Civil Justice Institute in 2023.

“I am delighted that John Goldberg will be the dean of Harvard Law School,” said Provost John F. Manning. “He cares deeply about the legal profession and about Harvard Law School, and he approaches everything he does with integrity, humility, and wisdom. It has been an honor to work closely with him over many years, and I know that he will be a superb dean.”

Before arriving at Harvard, Goldberg taught at Vanderbilt University Law School, where he held the role of associate dean for research from 2005 to 2008. Early in his career, he was a clerk to Justice Byron R. White on the Supreme Court and to Judge Jack B. Weinstein in the Eastern District of New York, and was an associate at the Boston firm Hill and Barlow.

Goldberg earned his B.A. from Wesleyan University with high honors. Additionally, he holds an M.Phil. in politics from Oxford University and an M.A. in politics from Princeton University. He earned his J.D. from New York University School of Law, where he held the position of editor in chief at the NYU Law Review.