A Brief History of the Origins of the International Tax Program

A Brief History of the Origins of the International Tax Program

Description

On the 20th Anniversary of the International Tax Program (ITP), it seems fitting to revisit the Program's inception, and to tip our hats to its founder, Paul McDaniel. Paul, who passed away in 2010, was a remarkable man. Before he came to NYU over twenty years ago, he had already had a distinguished career in government, academia and practice. In 1967, he joined an elite group of young tax lawyers1 in the Office of Tax Policy assembled by Stanley Surrey, “the greatest tax scholar of his generation.” In 1970, he joined the faculty of Boston College Law School where he remained until he joined the Boston firm of Hill and Barlow in 1987. With the advent of the ITP, Paul was to launch yet another stage of his career. In the fall of 1991, I was Director of the Tax Program, and Paul asked to have lunch with me to discuss an idea. It was at this lunch that Paul first proposed what would become the International Tax Program. At lunch, Paul told me that he was considering returning to the academy. He was not interested, however, in simply returning to the classroom; he wanted to create a new LL.M program designed for non-U.S. tax lawyers to study U.S. Taxation. Paul thought there was a huge need and demand for such a program and thought that NYU was the perfect home for it because of its stellar reputation in taxation. Paul suggested that if NYU were interested, he would join our faculty and run the program. He asserted that it could be designed to be financially self-sufficient and would give the current LL.M. Program a global dimension. I was thrilled by the prospect for two reasons. First, Paul already had an excellent reputation as a legal academic and I thought he would be a great addition to our faculty. Second, I thought his concept of an international tax program was brilliant. For me, one of the most attractive characteristics of NYU's Tax Program is that it attracts students from all 50 states; it is truly a national program. Paul was suggesting that we establish a program that would attract students from all over the world. If he were able to pull it off, NYU's program would “go global,” positioning it—tax-wise, at least—at the center of our increasingly interconnected world. When I initially presented Paul's vision to John Sexton, the Law School's new dean, I had three challenges: first, to convince him that the ITP was an excellent idea, second that Paul was the right person to design and direct it, and third to commit resources to ensure a robust launch. Without the Dean's backing, the new program would be DOA, i.e., dead on arrival. Luckily, John was immediately intrigued. That the program might not generate additional revenue for the Law School was fine, so long as it paid for itself and was designed to be of the highest quality. What I did not know at the time is how well the establishment of this Program would fit with the Dean's vision (not yet announced) of creating the first “global law school.” It was not until 1995 that NYU launched its Hauser Global Law School Program.

Source Publication

ITP@20 [1996 - 2016]

Source Editors/Authors

H. David Rosenbloom, Igor Alexandre Felipe de Macêdo, Amanda Kazacos, Francisco Lisboa Moreira, Carlo U. Olivar

Publication Date

2016

A Brief History of the Origins of the International Tax Program

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