Professor Darien Shanske Awarded UC Hastings Foundation Faculty Award for His Tax Scholarship

Professor Darien Shanske has been awarded the UC Hastings Foundation Faculty Award for his scholarship in the field of taxation. 

Shanske’s research and writing focuses on ways to develop state and local tax systems that are more efficient and less volatile. “The federal government is forced, in times to crisis, to give states and localities large stimulus packages. It would be better to nudge states and localities to adopt more stable revenue systems to begin with,” Shanske said. “This would help stabilize state and local budgets and economies.”

Shanske joined the UC Hastings faculty five years ago, and in November 2012 was granted tenure. In addition to bachelor’s and master’s degrees in philosophy, he has a Ph.D. in Rhetoric from UC Berkeley and a J.D. from Stanford. He clerked for Hon. Pierre N. Leval of the Second Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals. “Tax is a great area to work in as a researcher, because there are endless interesting issues and puzzles. There is room for a great deal of intellectual creativity,” Shanske said.

He also adores teaching. “I can’t think of anything else I would rather be doing,” he said.

In making the award, the Foundation noted the real-world applicability of Shanske’s work. “Scholarship is at the heart of what a professor does,” said Chancellor and Dean Frank H. Wu, in recommending Shanske for the award. “We have tremendously talented junior faculty. Darien Shankse exemplifies the ideal law professor. He has a background in classics, but also in the application of theory to public policy. His ideas are influencing the development of state and local tax law, both in California and nationally.”

In addition to his other writing and teaching, Shanske is working with Professor Michael Salerno and the Hon. Joseph Grodin, former California Supreme Court Justice and professor emeritus at UC Hastings, to update Grodin’s guide to the California constitution, which remains the central reference in the field. Emeritus professors Richard Cunningham and Calvin Massey co-authored the original edition with Grodin.

The award, designed to encourage and reward faculty, is typically accompanied by an honorarium. Past winners of the UC Hastings Foundation Faculty Award include:

2012 Osagie Obasogie

2011 Chimène Keitner

2010 Hadar Aviram

2009 Heather Field

2008 Ethan Leib

2007 Evan Lee

2006 Naomi Roht-Arriaza

2005 Ascanio Piomelli

2004 Robin Feldman

2003 David Faigman

2002 Lois Weithorn

2001 Aaron Rappaport

2000 Vikram Amar

1999 Reull Schiller

1998 William Dodge

1997 Jo Carillo

1996 Ash Bhagwat