Founded in 1817, Harvard Law School is the oldest continuously operating law school in the United States. Since its founding, 11 people have officially served as Dean. They are:
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| 1870 – 1895, Christopher Columbus Langdell | 1895 – 1910, James Barr Ames | 1910 – 1915, Ezra Ripley Thayer |
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| 1916 – 1936, Roscoe Pound | 1937 – 1946, James McCauley Landis | 1946 – 1967, Erwin Nathaniel Griswold |
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| 1968 – 1971, Derek Curtis Bok | 1971 – 1981, Albert Martin Sacks | 1981 – 1989, James Vorenberg |
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| 1989 – 2003, Robert C. Clark | 2003 – 2009, Elena Kagan | July 1, 2009 --, Martha Minow |
Several individuals have also served as acting dean at one time or another. They are: Samuel Williston (1909-10), Austin Wakeman Scott (1915-16), Edward Henry Warren (1921-22), Joseph Warren (1925-26 and 1929), Joseph Henry Beale (1929-30), Edmund Morris Morgan (1936-37, 1942-45), Robert Amory, Jr. (1948), Livingston Hall (1959), Andrew James Casner (1967-68), and Howell E. Jackson (2009).