Dorothy Brown

Dorothy A. Brown was the Asa Griggs Candler Professor of Law at Emory University School of Law, a position she assumed in 2019 after joining the faculty in 2008 as Professor of Law. Previously, she served as Professor of Law at Washington and Lee University School of Law from 2002 to 2008, where she directed the Frances Lewis Law Center. Her earlier academic career included faculty positions at the University of Cincinnati College of Law from 1994 to 2002 and at George Mason University School of Law from 1991 to 1994. Prior to entering academia, Brown gained extensive experience in tax law as Attorney Advisor to Judge Stephen J. Swift at the U.S. Tax Court from 1984 to 1985, associate at Haynes & Miller and Drexel Burnham Lambert from 1985 to 1989, and in senior roles including Associate Deputy General Counsel at the Department of Housing and Urban Development from 1989 to 1991. She earned a B.S. in Accounting from Fordham University in 1980, a J.D. from Georgetown University Law Center in 1983, and an LL.M. in Taxation from New York University School of Law in 1984.

Professor Brown's research focuses on the intersections of federal tax policy with race, class, and gender, including pioneering applications of critical race theory to taxation. She teaches courses in federal income tax, partnership tax, administrative law, and critical race theory. Key publications include her book The Whiteness of Wealth: How the Tax System Impoverishes Black Americans—and How We Can Fix It (Crown Publishing, 2021), Critical Race Theory: Cases, Materials and Problems (West Academic Publishing, 3rd ed. 2014), and Federal Income Taxation: Cases, Problems, and Materials (co-authored, 7th ed. 2019). Selected articles are "Race, Class, and Gender Essentialism in Tax Literature: The Joint Return" (54 Wash. & Lee L. Rev. 1469, 1997), "Race and Class Matters in Tax Policy" (107 Colum. L. Rev. 790, 2007), and "Homeownership in Black and White" (49 U. Mem. L. Rev. 205, 2018). Brown received the Clyde Ferguson Award in 2018, the Emory Williams Teaching Award in 2011, and multiple Professor of the Year honors. She held visiting professorships at Pepperdine University, Georgetown University Law Center, Emory University School of Law, and the University of Virginia School of Law, and has published opinion pieces in the New York Times, Washington Post, Forbes, and others.

Professional Email: dorothy.brown@emory.edu