Staudt is a nationally recognized tax scholar
- By Gilien Silsby
USC Gould School of Law will celebrate the installation of Prof. Nancy Staudt as the inaugural holder of the Edward G. Lewis Chair in Law.
Established in honor of Edward G. Lewis of Century City, the installation ceremony will take place on Monday, April 2, at the California Club.
Lewis, a 1970 graduate of USC Law and a member of USC Law’s Board of Councilors, said he is honored to give back to an institution that shaped his career. For 28 years, Lewis ran a successful solo corporate and real estate practice.
“I am very proud of my USC Law education,” Lewis said. “I learned how to look at issues and problems in an analytical way that helped me to achieve things I never thought possible. I believe that it’s important to give back when you have received so much.”
Part of a centuries-old tradition of recognizing eminent scholars, chairs provide a permanent endowment or perpetual grant to support the work of professors and their successors thereafter. The Edward G. Lewis Chair in Law will become part of Staudt’s official title.
Staudt, a nationally recognized tax and tax policy scholar, joined the USC Law in 2011. She has published extensively on the tax and tax policymaking decisions that take place in both the legislative and judicial branches of government, including the recent The Judicial Power of the Purse: How Courts Fund National Defense in Times of Crisis (Chicago University Press 2011).
Staudt is in the process of completing a book with two colleagues on the “Judicial Business Cycle,” which examines how and why economic conditions affect judges’ votes and case outcomes, and is finishing a project on the application of judicial anti-abuse doctrines in the corporate tax shelter context.
“I am so honored to be the inaugural holder of the Edward G. Lewis Chair in Law,” Staudt said. “An endowed chair is one of the most—if not the most—prestigious honor that a University can bestow on a faculty member and the idea that Mr. Lewis made this possible for both USC and for me is wonderful and flattering. I will work hard to live up to the expectations of a “chair holder.’”
Lewis who earned his bachelor's degree in political science at USC in 1967, has been a stalwart supporter of the University of Southern California. Lewis and his wife, Marie, divide their time around the USC football schedule among homes in Century City, Rancho Mirage, Calif., and Paris, France. He has organized class reunions and sponsored programs at the Law School, raised money for USC Athletics and supported other schools at USC.
“USC Law is strong because of dedicated and enthusiastic alums like Edward Lewis,” said Rasmussen. “Edward's career is a testament to the value of a USC legal education. His tireless giving back to USC in general and the Gould School of Law in particular is testament to the values of the Trojan Family.”
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