UK Law's Jennifer Bird-Pollan is 2017 Duncan Teaching Award Recipient

LEXINGTON, Ky. (Aug. 11, 2017) — Jennifer Bird-Pollan, the James and Mary Lassiter Associate Professor of Law, is the recipient of the 2017 Duncan Teaching Award at the University of Kentucky College of Law. 

Every year, a UK Law faculty member is recognized for excellence in the classroom, courtesy of the Robert M. and Joanne K. Duncan Faculty Improvement Fund — established in 1982 to promote outstanding teaching performance at the college. Bird-Pollan joined the UK Law faculty in 2010. She teaches a variety of tax law courses, including basic income tax, corporate tax, partnership tax and international tax. She is fully engaged in the academic welfare of her students.

Students describe her classroom teaching as simply wonderful. A past student said she "made the material interesting and much easier to understand." Another student described her international tax class as "brutal," and did not "know if [he/she] would have survived it under a different professor."

Outside the classroom, Bird-Pollan constantly advises and assists students who are trying to obtain admission to tax LLM programs. She also regularly assists with the UK Law Volunteer Income Tax Assistance Clinic, serves as the faculty advisor to the UK Law Tax Law Society and has guided students to success in tax moot court and writing competitions. Finally, Bird-Pollan counsels students on the employment front.

Bird-Pollan received her law degree from Harvard Law School, where she was the articles editor for the Harvard Journal of Law and Gender, and her bachelor's degrees in philosophy and French from Penn State University, where she graduated with distinction and honors in philosophy. Bird-Pollan also earned master's and doctoral degrees in philosophy from Vanderbilt University. Before law school, she taught undergraduate philosophy courses at Vanderbilt and Harvard College. Bird-Pollan served as the 2014-2015 Fulbright Visiting Professor at the Vienna University of Business and Economics in Vienna, Austria, and also served as a visiting professor at Indiana University Maurer School of Law. Her current research lies at the intersection of tax law and philosophy, specifically with regard to questions of justice and fairness.

“Professor Bird-Pollan’s passion and commitment to teaching make her a valuable asset to the students as well as the broader UK Law community,” said UK Law Dean David A. Brennen. “The award is well-deserved.”

The recipient of the Duncan Teaching Award receives a one-time award of $5,000.