Gillian Lester

Gillian Lester
15th Dean of Columbia Law School
In office January 1, 2015 – July 31, 2024
Preceded by	David Schizer
Personal details
Born	(1964-10-30) October 30, 1964 (age 59) Maple Ridge, British Columbia, Canada
Spouse	Eric Talley
Education	University of British Columbia (BSc) University of Toronto (LLB) Stanford University (JSD)
Website	Gillian Lester

Gillian L. L. Lester (born October 30, 1964) is a Canadian legal scholar who served as the 15th Dean of Columbia Law School.^[1] She joined Columbia Law School on January 1, 2015, as Dean and Lucy G. Moses Professor of Law, where she is now Dean Emerita and Alphonse Fletcher Jr. Professor of Law.^[2] Previously, Lester was acting dean of the University of California, Berkeley, School of Law^[3] where she had been a professor since 2006.^[4] Before that, she was a full professor at the School of Law of the University of California, Los Angeles.^[4]

Lester was 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.^[5]