Paul Brest
Professor of Law, Emeritus and Former Dean
A leading scholar and teacher of constitutional law and co-author of the casebook Processes of
Constitutional Decision-Making, Professor Brest now focuses on judgment and decision making and
philanthropy. He is the co-author of Problem Solving, Decision Making, and Professional Judgment(2010)
and Money Well Spent: A Strategic Guide to Smart Philanthropy(2008).
In 1969, Professor Brest joined the faculty of Stanford Law School, where he was the Kenneth and Harle
Montgomery Professor of Public Interest Law. From 1987 to 1999, he was the dean of Stanford Law
School where he spearheaded the expansion of the School’s curriculum in business, environmental law,
high technology, and negotiation, and led a $115 million capital campaign. From 2000 to 2012, he was
the president of the William and Flora Hewlett Foundation. The Hewlett Foundation under Professor
Brest grew its endowment from less than $3 billion to more than $7 billion. The foundation is a leader
among its peers in developing practices to make twenty-first-century philanthropy more rational and
effective.
Professor Brest returned to Stanford Law School in 2012, where, as an emeritus professor recalled to
active duty, he is teaching Judgment and Decision-Making at the Law School and Impact Investing and
Managing to Outcomes at the Graduate School of Business. He is also faculty co-director of Stanford
University’s Center on Philanthropy and Civil Society.
Professor Brest is a fellow in the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, and holds honorary degrees
from Northwestern University School of Law and Swarthmore College.