Gillian Lester

Gillian Lester
15th Dean of Columbia Law School
Assumed office
January 1, 2015
Preceded by David Schizer
Personal details
Born (1964-10-30) October 30, 1964
Maple Ridge, British Columbia
Nationality Canadian
Spouse(s) Eric Talley
Alma mater University of British Columbia (B.Sc.)
University of Toronto (LL.B.)
Stanford University (J.S.D.)
Occupation Law Professor
Scholar
Administrator
Website Gillian Lester

Gillian L. L. Lester (born October 30, 1964) is the 15th Dean of Columbia Law School.[1] She joined Columbia Law School on Jan. 1, 2015, as Dean and Lucy G. Moses Professor of Law. Previously, Lester was acting dean of the University of California, Berkeley School of Law[2] where she had been a professor since 2006.[3] Before that, she was a full professor at the School of Law of the University of California, Los Angeles.[3]

Lester is the second female dean of Columbia Law School. Soon after taking the job, Lester told The Chronicle of Higher Education she wanted to tweak the curriculum to turn more Columbia law students into "global actors" and "entrepreneurs" who could build careers in both the private and public sectors.[4]

Scholarship and recognition

Lester is a nationally recognized authority in employment law and policy. Her research has explored issues in the workplace and in public finance, distributive justice, and the design of social insurance programs.[5] She is the author of numerous books and articles, including one of the leading casebooks on employment law, Employment Law Cases and Materials.[6] She is also a member of the American Law Institute and was an adviser to the ALI Restatement of Employment Law.

Biography

Lester was born in Maple Ridge, British Columbia and later moved to West Vancouver. She is the fourth of four children born to Richard Egerton Matheson Lester, a labor lawyer, and Lois (Jensen) Lester, a teacher.[7] She earned a B.Sc. in 1986 from the University of British Columbia, an LL.B. in 1990 from the University of Toronto, where she served as editor-in-chief of the University of Toronto Faculty of Law Review,[8] and a J.S.D. in 1998 from Stanford University.

Lester began her career in the legal academy in 1994 at the University of California, Los Angeles School of Law. She became a full professor in 1999. She joined the Berkeley law faculty in 2006 and in 2014 became the Alexander F. and May T. Morrison Professor of Law and the Werner and Mimi Wolfen Research Professor. At Berkeley, Lester served as co-director of the Berkeley Center for Health, Economic and Family Security;[9] Associate Dean for the J.D. Program and Curricular Planning; and, in 2013, Acting Dean.

She has held external appointments as the Sidley Austin Visiting Professor at Harvard Law School and the Sloan Fellow and Visiting Professor at Georgetown University Law Center, as well as short-term visiting appointments at the University of Southern California Gould School of Law, the University of Chicago Law School, and Radzyner Law School at Interdisciplinary Center Herzliya in Israel.

She serves on the board of directors for Legal Aid Society of New York[10] and the International Society for Labour and Social Security Law. Lester is also a member of the Advisory Committee of the Labor Law Research Network[11] and the American Law Institute[12] and was an Advisor for the American Law Institute Restatement 3d Employment Law. She is also on the advisory board of the Columbia Law Review.[13]

Lester is married to Columbia Law School professor Eric Talley, with whom she has two children.

Selected works

Books

Articles and Chapters

References

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Academic offices
Preceded by
David Schizer		 Dean of Columbia Law School
January 1, 2015 – present 		Succeeded by
Incumbent
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