Rebecca S. Dresser (born 5 April 1952) is an American legal scholar and medical ethicist.

Dresser earned a bachelor of arts degree in psychology and sociology at Indiana University Bloomington in 1973, followed by a master's of science in education at the same institution in 1975. She then graduated from Harvard Law School in 1979.^[1] She began teaching at the Washington University in St. Louis in 1983, was appointed Daniel Noyes Kirby Professor of Law, and granted emeritus status upon retirement.^[1][2] Between 1992 and 1993, Dresser returned to Harvard as faculty fellow of the Safra Center for Ethics.^[3]

She was diagnosed with cancer of the head and neck in 2006.^[4]

• Dresser, Rebecca. "Dworkin on Dementia: Elegant Theory, Questionable Policy". The Hastings Center Report, Vol. 25, No. 6 (Nov.-Dec. 1995), pp. 32-38.
• Beauchamp, Tom L.; Orlans, F. Barbara; Dresser, Rebecca; Morton, David B.; Gluck, John P., eds. (1998). The Human Use of Animals: Case Studies in Ethical Choice. Oxford University Press. ISBN 9780195119084.^[5]
• Dresser, Rebecca (2001). When Science Offers Salvation: Patient Advocacy and Research Ethics. Oxford University Press. ISBN 9780195143133.^[6]
• Dresser, Rebecca, ed. (2012). Malignant: Medical Ethicists Confront Cancer. Oxford University Press. ISBN 9780199757848.^[7]
• Dresser, Rebecca (2016). Silent Partners: Human Subjects and Research Ethics. Oxford University Press. ISBN 9780190459277.^[8]