Christopher H. Hanna

Christopher H. Hanna is the Alan D. Feld Endowed Professor of Law and the Altshuler Distinguished Teaching Professor at Southern Methodist University. Professor Hanna has been a visiting professor at the University of Florida Levin College of Law, the University of Texas School of Law, and the University of Tokyo School of Law. In 1998, Professor Hanna served as a consultant in residence to the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) in Paris. From June 2000 until April 2001, he assisted the U.S. Joint Committee on Taxation in its complexity study of the U.S. tax system, and from May 2002 until February 2003, he assisted the Joint Committee in its study of Enron. Upon completion of the study, he continued to serve as a consultant to the Joint Committee on tax legislation. From May 2011 until December 2018, he served as Senior Policy Advisor for Tax Reform to the U.S. Senate Committee on Finance (Republican staff).

Prior to coming to SMU, Professor Hanna was a tax attorney with the Washington, D.C. law firm of Steptoe & Johnson. He has received nine Dr. Don M. Smart Teaching Awards for excellence in teaching at SMU Dedman School of Law. In 1995, he was selected and featured in Barrister magazine, a publication of the ABA Young Lawyers' Division, as one of “21 Young Lawyers Leading Us Into the 21st Century” (Special Profile Issue 1995).

Professor Hanna received his undergraduate degree in accounting at the University of Florida (1984) and his law degrees at University of Florida College of Law (1988) and New York University School of Law (1989). He is a member of the Order of the Coif, Beta Alpha Psi, Beta Gamma Sigma and Omicron Delta Epsilon.

He has authored numerous articles in various areas of taxation including international taxation, corporate taxation, partnership taxation, and tax accounting. Professor Hanna’s first book, Comparative Income Tax Deferral: The United States and Japan was released in July 2000. He co-authored his second book, Corporate Income Tax Accounting, which was released in October 2007 and is now in its 15th edition (forthcoming 2022). His third book, Tax Policy in a Nutshell, was released in September 2018 and is now in its 2^nd edition (2022). He is a member of the American Law Institute, the American College of Tax Counsel, and the Dallas Assembly.