[[{"type":"media","view_mode":"default","fid":"128626","attributes":{"alt":"pozenr_1x1","height":"200","width":"200","class":"media-image size-full wp-image-8352 alignright media-element file-default"}}]]I am delighted to announce a major new endowment gift for the Tax Policy Center from Robert C. Pozen. His gift will establish the Pozen Director’s Chair at TPC in perpetuity.  I’m honored to be its inaugural holder.

Bob is a widely respected leader in finance and public policy and author of several books. He is currently a senior lecturer at the Harvard Business School, a visiting senior lecturer at the MIT Sloan School of Management, and a nonresident senior fellow at Brookings.

From 2001 to 2002, Bob served on the President’s Commission to Strengthen Social Security. He also served as secretary of economic affairs for Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney. Before 2001, he was vice chairman of Fidelity Investments and president of Fidelity Management & Research Co.

Mr. Pozen’s generosity, strong expression of support for our work, and confidence in the future feels like something of a coming-of-age for TPC.  When we started just 13 years ago (on April 1, 2002), we wanted to fill a need for clear, unbiased, and accessible analysis of tax policy. We are gratified that our work has since been recognized by the public, policymakers, the press, and our funders.

Thanks to generous grants from the Ford Foundation and the Annie E. Casey Foundation, we built our tax model and established our website.  In 2008, we launched a major fundraising campaign with a generous matching grant from the Gates Foundation. In 2010, the MacArthur Foundation recognized us with its Award for Creative and Effective Institutions. In 2012, Price Philanthropies gave us a major gift to establish the Sol Price chair, currently held by Senior Fellow Bob Williams.  In January 2013, the preeminent tax publication Tax Analysts, named TPC “tax person of the year” for its analysis of the 2012 presidential candidates’ tax proposals.

Today, we are thrilled by Mr. Pozen’s strong statement of confidence in the quality and durability of our work.

Bob will lead a newly-formed Tax Policy Center Leadership Council, which will provide us with ongoing unrestricted financial support and feedback on the Center’s substantive work, events, and activities.

As always, TPC will maintain the independence and integrity that built our reputation and attracted Bob’s support in the first place.

Thanks to Bob Pozen for his transformative gift. We will work hard to live up to his confidence in TPC.