Adam Kern

Tax Law and Policy, International Tax, Corporate Tax, Moral and Political Philosophy, Law & Economics

Professor Kern joined USD as an assistant professor in 2024. His research focuses on international tax policy and the taxation of multinational corporations. Much of his recent work analyzes the OECD's global minimum tax initiative, including its interaction with U.S. tax law and its implications for tax competition. His research interests also include optimal taxation, tax base design, and distributive justice.

Prior to joining USD, Professor Kern served as a policy advisor in the Office of Tax Policy at the U.S. Department of Treasury, where he worked on regulations implementing the U.S. corporate alternative minimum tax. He previously clerked for Judge Jed S. Rakoff of the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York and practiced as a tax associate with Covington & Burling in Washington, D.C. He was a visiting professor at Stanford Law School in 2026.

Professor Kern's work has been published in the Columbia Law Review, University of Chicago Law Review, NYU Law Review, Texas Law Review, Tax Law Review, Tax Notes, Philosophy & Public Affairs, and Oxford Studies in Political Philosophy. It has been awarded the Sanders Prize in political philosophy.

Professor Kern earned a Ph.D. from Princeton University and a J.D. from the NYU School of Law, where he was a Furman Scholar, won the David F. Bradford Memorial Prize for Best Paper in Taxation, and received the Harry J. Rudick Award for Excellence in Taxation. He also holds a B.Phil. from Oxford University and an A.B. (summa cum laude) from Harvard College.