Donald B. Tobin stepped down as dean at the University of Maryland Francis King Carey School of Law and continues his commitment to Maryland Carey Law as a member of the faculty. Professor Tobin specializes in tax law and election law.
Prior to joining academia, he worked on Capitol Hill as a professional staff member for U.S. Senator Paul Sarbanes (D.-MD), the Senate Committee on the Budget, and the Joint Economic Committee of Congress. He went to law school at night while working on the Hill. Later, he served as a law clerk for The Honorable Francis Murnaghan, Jr. of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit and as an appellate attorney in the Tax Division of the U.S. Justice Department. Prior to his deanship at Maryland Carey Law, Professor Tobin was the John C. Elam/Vorys Sater Professor of Law and associate dean for academic affairs and associate dean for faculty at Ohio State University Moritz College of Law.
Professor Tobin’s research concentrates on tax policy and the way the tax code is often used to drive other policy outcomes. In the last 15 years, his work has mainly centered on the interaction between the tax code and election law. His scholarship on the use of the tax code to regulate campaigns and tax-exempt entities has been featured in such publications as the Georgetown Law Journal, First Amendment Law Review, Election Law Journal, and Georgia Law Review. He is also co-author, with Samuel A. Donaldson, of Federal Income Taxation: A Contemporary Approach, an interactive casebook. Professor Tobin has testified before the Federal Election Commission and the U.S. House Ways and Means Subcommittee on Oversight.