News Archive

A national expert in federal income taxation, Professor Stephanie Hoffer is the Lawrence A. Jegen III Chair in Tax Law at the Robert H. McKinney School of Law.

Professor Hoffer comes to IU McKinney from The Ohio State University Moritz College of Law. Her research explores the way in which procedural and substantive aspects of tax law affect the lives of individuals and businesses. She has published extensively and presented her work both at home and abroad, and her research on due process in IRS collections actions has been cited by federal courts. She is coauthor of a treatise on international taxation and has testified before both the IRS and state legislative committees on the role of taxation in the lives of individuals with disabilities. In 2017-18, she was a Fulbright Scholar in Austria, conducting research on comparative taxation.

Before joining the faculty at Moritz College of Law, Professor Hoffer was a visiting assistant professor at the Northwestern University School of Law. She previously served as a law clerk for Judge Alice M. Batchelder of the Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals, and, following graduation from law school, she worked in the tax department of Squire, Sanders & Dempsey L.L.P. She holds an LL.M. in taxation from the New York University School of Law and a J.D. from Case Western University.

The Jegen Chair was created when former students, friends and colleagues raised more than $1.5 million in gifts to honor the late Professor Lawrence A. Jegen III, who retired in 2018 after 56 years of teaching at IU McKinney.

Professor Jegen began his career in August 1962, in the Maennerchor Building, then the home of the law school. Over the years, he prepared students to enter the legal profession and lectured for groups of lawyers, accountants, representatives of Congress and various divisions of the Internal Revenue Service. He authored numerous articles and book chapters, drafted federal and state laws and spoke before state, national, and international organizations. He died shortly after his retirement from the law school.

Professor Hoffer is a renowned scholar and teacher who will continue Professor Jegen’s legacy of scholarship and teaching, according to IU McKinney Dean Karen E. Bravo.

“We are delighted to have Professor Hoffer bring her passion for tax law to IU McKinney,” Dean Bravo said. “We are very grateful to the individuals who have made this endowed chair possible, honoring Professor Jegen’s legendary service and contributions to our law school and the legal profession in a very important way.”

Professor Hoffer recalls meeting Professor Jegen on a visit to IU McKinney several years ago and knew of his formidable reputation among tax experts and legions of law school alumni.

She was touched to learn that she was being considered for the Lawrence A. Jegen III Chair in Tax Law during the search process in 2019.

“I know how meaningful he was to the faculty and to the alumni. The academy can be heartlessly focused on research, but Professor Jegen’s focus was also on the community. I relate to that very much,” Professor Hoffer said.

 “I envisioned this as a year of gathering together and making connections,” she said. “We are disappointed that we cannot be together yet in person, but I am very much excited about this new role and looking forward to that when circumstances will allow it.”