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Speaker Biographies II. International Tax Aspects of the U.S. Tax Reform

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Speaker Biographies II. International Tax Aspects of the U.S. Tax Reform Speaker Biographies II. International Tax Aspects of the U.S. Tax Reform Grace Perez-Navarro is the Deputy Director of the OECD’s Centre for Tax Policy and Administration. As such, she plays a key role in the work on Base Erosion and Profit Shifting (BEPS), improving international tax cooperation, promoting better tax policies and engaging developing countries in OECD tax work. Since joining the OECD in 1997, she has held several key positions, including having led the OECD’s work on bank secrecy, tax and e-commerce, harmful tax practices, money laundering and tax crimes, the tax aspects of countering bribery of foreign officials, and strengthening all forms of administrative cooperation between tax authorities. Prior to joining the OECD, Ms. Perez-Navarro was a Special Counsel at the IRS Office of the Associate Chief Counsel (International) where she was responsible for coordinating guidance provided to field offices on international tax issues, overseeing litigation of international tax issues, negotiating TIEAs, overseeing the drafting of regulations, rulings and other policy advice and participating in treaty negotiations. In 1993, she was seconded by the IRS to the OECD to launch the revision of the OECD’s Transfer Pricing Guidelines. Chip Harter is the Deputy Assistant Secretary for International Tax Affairs in the Office of Tax Policy at the U.S. Department of the Treasury. In this capacity, he is responsible, on behalf of the Assistant Secretary, for the conduct of legal and economic aspects of tax policy relative to the representation of the United States in bilateral and multilateral relations with other countries, as well as advising the legal and economic staffs within the Office of Tax Policy, other offices of the Treasury Department and other government agencies as to policy analysis and interpretation for domestic legislation and administrative guidance in all matters involving cross border taxation. Mr. Harter serves as the U.S. delegate to the Committee on Fiscal Affairs (CFA) in the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (the OECD). Prior to joining Treasury, Mr. Harter was a principal in the Washington National Tax Practice of PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP. During his 18 years with PwC, he engaged in a broad international tax practice advising numerous clients on a range of issues, including structuring both inbound and outbound ventures, the establishment of efficient international structures, the formation of joint ventures and private equity funds and international mergers and acquisitions. He served as a national technical resource of PwC on tax issues relating to international financial transactions. During the 18 years prior to his joining PwC, Mr. Harter was first an associate and then a partner with the law firm of Baker & McKenzie, practicing first in its Chicago and then in its Washington D.C. office. His practice with Baker & McKenzie included both tax litigation and a broad international transactional practice. He is a member of the American Bar Association Tax Section, the District of Columbia Bar Association Tax Section, and the International Fiscal Association. Mr. Harter has published numerous articles on international tax topics and has regularly spoken on panels on international tax issues at leading tax conferences. He graduated from Harvard College in 1977 and the University of Chicago Law School in 1980, where he was comments and articles editor on the managing board of The University of Chicago Law Review. After graduating, he clerked for the Honorable Thomas McMillen of the United States District Court for the Northern District of Illinois. Michael J. Graetz is the Columbia Alumni Professor of Tax Law at Columbia Law School. Before coming to Columbia in 2009, he was the Justus S. Hotchkiss Professor of Law at Yale University, where he had taught since 1983. His most recent books are The Burger Court and the Rise of the Judicial Right (Simon & Schuster 2016) and Follow the Money: Essays on International Taxation (2016). Previous books include The End of Energy: The Unmaking of America’s Environment, Security and Independence (MIT Press 2011); 100 Million Unnecessary Returns: A Simple, Fair, and Competitive Tax Plan for the United States (Yale University Press 2008); Death by a Thousand Cuts: The Fight over Taxing Inherited Wealth (Princeton University Press 2005); True Security: Rethinking Social Insurance (Yale University Press 1999); The U.S. Income Tax: What It Is, How It Got That Way and Where We go From Here (W.W. Norton & Co, 1999) (a paperback edition of the book originally published as The Decline (and Fall?) of the Income Tax); and Foundations of International Income Taxation (Foundation Press 2003). He is also the co-author of a leading law school coursebook, Federal Income Taxation: Principles and Policies, and has published more than 80 articles on a wide range of federal tax, international tax, health policy, and social insurance issues. During January-June 1992, Graetz served as Assistant to the Secretary and Special Counsel at the Treasury Department. In 1990 and 1991, he served as Treasury Deputy Assistant Secretary for Tax Policy. In 2013, Graetz was awarded the Daniel M. Holland Medal by the National Tax Association for outstanding contributions to the study and practice of public finance. He has been a John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Fellow, and he received an award from Esquire Magazine for courses and work in connection with provision of shelter for the homeless. He served on the Commissioner’s Advisory Group of the Internal Revenue Service. During 1969-1972, he served in the Treasury Department in the Office of Tax Legislative Counsel. He is a fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. Graetz is a graduate of Emory University (B.B.A. 1966) and the University of Virginia Law School (J.D. 1969). A native of Atlanta, Georgia, he is married to Brett Dignam and has five children. Pam Olson is U.S. Deputy Tax Leader and Washington National Tax Services Leader of PwC. In her WNTS role, Pam leads a team that includes many former senior government officials and policy advisers. Prior to joining PwC, Pam led the Washington tax practice at Skadden, Arps, and served as assistant secretary for tax policy at the U.S. Department of the Treasury. Pam has represented clients in a broad range of matters, including IRS audits, appeals and litigation; congressional investigations; private letter ruling requests, proposed regulations, and other IRS and Treasury guidance; and in the legislative process. She has advised clients on tax and social security reform and on the structuring of financing, partnership, and M&A transactions. She is a frequent speaker on tax, economic and federal budget matters and has testified before several congressional committees, most recently before the Senate Finance Committee on U.S. tax reform. Pam also held positions with the chief counsel’s office of the Internal Revenue Service as special assistant to the chief counsel, attorney-adviser in the Legislation and Regulations Division and trial attorney in San Diego District Counsel. In 2000 and 2001, Pam was the first woman to serve as chair of the American Bar Association Section of Taxation. Pam received her B.A., M.B.A., and J.D. from the University of Minnesota. Louise Weingrod is Vice President, Global Taxation at Johnson & Johnson. Together with a team of highly talented professionals, Louise is responsible for all aspects of taxation for Johnson & Johnson’s pharmaceutical, medical device and consumer businesses around the world, including tax policy, L&A, supply chain, pricing, controversy, tax technology, compliance and reporting, compensation and benefits taxation and charitable giving. Louise joined Johnson & Johnson in 1999 as a Senior Tax Attorney. Prior to Johnson & Johnson, Louise was a member of the Tax Group at Cleary, Gottlieb, Steen & Hamilton and a Tax Associate at Lowenstein, Sandler, Kohl, Fisher & Boylan. Louise holds a J.D. from Columbia University Law School, an M.A. and a Ph.D. in English and American Literature from Brandeis University. Prior to attending law school--many decades ago--Louise taught English and American Literature and Women’s Studies. .
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