Ronald A. Pearlman

Professor Pearlman currently teaches Tax I and a tax policy seminar. He also has taught Corporate Tax II, Partnership Taxation, and Taxes.com: The Taxation of Electronic Commerce. Prior to joining the faculty, he was a tax partner in the law firm of Covington & Burling. Previously, he served in three tax positions with the Federal Government. 

In the mid-1960's, Professor Pearlman served with the Office of Chief Counsel of the Internal Revenue Service in Washington. After 15 years of private law practice in St. Louis, he returned to Washington in 1983 to serve first as the Deputy Assistant Secretary for Tax Policy at the U.S. Treasury, and then as the Assistant Treasury Secretary for Tax Policy, a presidential appointment. At the Treasury, he had overall responsibility for development of the Department's 1984 tax reform proposals and President Reagan's 1985 tax reform recommendations to the Congress. He represented the Administration during the consideration of the Tax Reform Act of 1986 by the House of Representatives. 

After an additional three years of private practice, he was appointed Chief of Staff of the Congressional Joint Committee on Taxation where he served from 1988-1990. Over the years, Professor Pearlman has served in a number of professional organizations and advisory groups, including as Vice-Chair (Government Relations) of the ABA Section of Taxation, President of the Board of Trustees of the American Tax Policy Institute, and as a consultant to two tax policy projects of the American Law Institute. He served as the Austin Wakeman Scott Visiting Professor of Law at the Harvard Law School and on the adjunct faculties of the University of Virginia School of Law and Washington University School of Law. He has lectured at the Japan Ministry of Finance, ESADE Law School (Barcelona, Spain), and the Vienna University of Economics and Business. 

Professor Pearlman has testified before Congress over 30 times on tax policy matters. He is the recipient of the U.S. Treasury Department’s Alexander Hamilton Medal, the Distinguished Service Award of the American Bar Association Section of Taxation, and the Kenneth Liles Distinguished Service Award of the Federal Bar Association Taxation Section.