Tax Prof Nancy C. Staudt, Class of 1940 Research Professor of Law at Northwestern, has accepted a position as the inaugural Edward G. Lewis Professor of Law at USC. From the USC press release:

“We are thrilled to bring Nancy Staudt to USC,” said Robert K. Rasmussen, dean of USC Law. “As a leading scholar on tax and budgetary issues, she examines some of the most pressing issues facing our country today. Nancy has been at the center of important debates on tax policy. Her recent work brings empirical methodology to judicial decision making, with a special focus on fiscal issues. Adding Nancy to the faculty continues the USC tradition of analyzing law through an interdisciplinary approach.”

“The decision to join the USC community was easy,” Staudt said. “I teach and write in the area of tax law and policy, and several of the nation’s leading tax scholars are at USC Law. The fact that the law school is located right next door to a great policy school will facilitate cross-disciplinary teaching and research — is also a real plus.
“I have known and admired Provost Beth Garrett and Dean Bob Rasmussen for many years. It is exciting to join a terrific law school at terrific university with such accomplished leadership!”

This is quite a coup for USC, as Nancy will join an incredibly strong group of Tax Profs at USC:  Elizabeth Garrett (currently USC’s Provost), Thomas Griffith, Edward D. Kleinbard, and Edward McCaffery. The move will likely continue USC’s upward trajectory in the U.S. News tax rankings — USC ranks 14th in the 2012 U.S. News Tax Rankings (up from 16th in 2011; USC was unranked in tax in 2010). Nancy also will further solidify Los Angeles’ #1 position in Ted Seto’s Tax Faculty Metropolitan Area Rankings.

For a complete list of 2011-12 Tax Prof moves, see here.