NYU Law’s tax programs celebrate dual anniversaries

On March 24, NYU Law’s tax faculty and alumni—two frequently overlapping groups—gathered with students to celebrate a pair of important anniversaries occurring this academic year: the 70th anniversary of the pioneering Graduate Tax Program, founded in 1945, and the 20th anniversary of the International Tax Program, started in 1996.

The continuing draw of NYU Law’s world-renowned tax curriculum is sufficiently powerful that many tax students eventually become tax professors—or vice versa for professors who, alongside many private-practice professionals, earn their tax LLM at the Law School. One such professor is Joshua Blank LLM ’07, the Graduate Tax Program’s faculty director, who opened the recent celebration with a warm welcome to current and former faculty and students. Blank likened the tax program to “a family—a family that really enjoys tax.”

The program began with greetings from Dean Trevor Morrison. Following were remarks by a number of important figures in the tax program, including:

  • M. Carr Ferguson LLM ’60, who described the Graduate Tax Program’s origins;
  • Adjunct Professor Victor Zonana ’64, LLM ’66, who recalled his days as a student and junior professor;
  • John Samuels LLM ’75, vice president and senior tax counsel for General Electric;
  • Carlyn McCaffrey ’67, LLM ’74, one of the Law School’s first female tax professors;
  • Professor Noël Cunningham LLM ’75, who talked about the tax program’s role in fostering new teachers;
  • Deborah Schenk LLM ’76, Ronald and Marilynn Grossman Professor of Taxation Emerita and editor-in-chief of the Tax Law Review, who considered that journal’s impact on tax scholarship;
  • H. David Rosenbloom, James S. Eustice Visiting Professor of Practice and Taxation, who discussed how the International Tax Program, which he directs, evolved from the original Graduate Tax Program.

The evening concluded with the presentation of the 2016 James S. Eustice Tax Leadership Award to Schenk, who, Blank said, “has made countless contributions as a mentor, citizen, and colleague.”

Watch the full video of the event here (1 hr, 50 min):

Posted March 31, 2016