John Palfrey

John G. Palfrey Jr., a Henry N. Ess III Professor of Law and Vice Dean for Library and Information Resources at Harvard Law School, has been named the 15th Head of School of Phillips Academy, Andover. Palfrey is a faculty co-director of the Berkman Center for Internet & Society, where he served as executive director for six years. As executive director, he secured funding for and oversaw programs to examine the far-reaching effects of the internet and digitized information. He returned to Harvard Law School in 2002 after spending a year with Boston law firm Ropes & Gray LLP.

Palfrey was a visiting professor of Information Law and Policy at the University of St. Gallen in Switzerland and has served as a special assistant at the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency during the Clinton administration. In 2005, Palfrey earned a Dean’s Commendation for Excellence in Teaching from the Harvard Extension School. Palfrey holds a J.D. from Harvard Law School, a M.Phil. from the University of Cambridge and an A.B. from Harvard College.