Shu-Yi Oei named to first Hoffman Fuller Professorship of Tax Law

Who gets excited about taxes?

When Tulane Law School associate professor Shu-Yi Oei talks about tax law, she manages to convey why “there has never been a more exciting time to be a tax scholar.”

Tulane Law School dean David Meyer, right, congratulates Shu-Yi Oei during her April 10 investiture as the first holder of the Hoffman F. Fuller Professorship of Tax Law. (Photo by Sally Asher)

“Remember, U.S. v. Windsor was a tax case,” Oei said, referring to the Supreme Court ruling that struck down a law denying federal benefits to married same-sex couples.

Oei, who joined the Tulane Law School faculty in 2009, has been named the first holder of the new Hoffman F. Fuller Professorship of Tax Law.

The position is named for Hoffman Fuller, a 1956 Tulane Law School graduate, who led the tax program at the law school for almost 50 years and chaired the Tulane Tax Institute for half a century.

The professorship is funded by three gifts: from tax lawyer Bernie Pistillo, a 1981 law school graduate and a partner at Morrison & Foerster in San Francisco; the estate of Harold Judell, a 1950 graduate and FBI agent-turned-lawyer whose municipal bond work included projects such as the Mercedez-Benz Superdome, Lake Pontchartrain Causeway, Crescent City Connection and Tulane Medical Center; and an anonymous donor.

“I feel a great deal of pleasure, and I feel honored at this being created in my name,” said Fuller, who attended Oei's investiture on April 10.

David Meyer, dean of the law school, said Oei has followed in Fuller's footsteps as an outstanding classroom teacher and faculty leader. She founded the Tulane Tax Roundtable, an annual gathering of leading scholars with professor Steve Sheffrin, director of the Murphy Institute at Tulane and a member of the law school's affiliated faculty.

Linda P. Campbell is director of communications for the Tulane Law School.