Jane Gravelle, 2022 Holland Medal Recipient

 The Daniel M. Holland Medal was created in 1993 in the memory of Daniel Holland, a Professor of Economics at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology Sloan School of Management and long-time editor of the National Tax Journal. The Holland Medal, the most prestigious award given by the National Tax Association, recognizes lifetime achievement in the study of the theory and practice of public finance.

This year’s winner of the Holland Medal is Jane Gravelle. Jane is a Senior Specialist in Economic Policy at the Congressional Research Service (CRS). She has served at CRS in a variety of roles since 1969.  Jane provides expert tax policy advice on demand for Congress, all while conveying the essence of complex tax concepts and issues to policymakers in a manner that they can effectively use—no easy feat. During her career, Jane has written hundreds of research reports for Congress and provided voluminous and frank advice in testimony before congressional committees, confidential memorandum, and conversations to Congress. Jane has also edited and helped to produce each edition of the biennial CRS compendium of tax expenditures for the Senate Budget Committee. As a result of her public service, Jane was the first woman to win the Davie/Davis Public Service Award, presented by the National Tax Association.

Her ability to blend her academic accomplishments with her drive to serve Congress has made her an invaluable resource to the tax community. Jane’s dissertation was about effective corporate tax rates and won the National Tax Association award for outstanding doctoral dissertation. Her subsequent book, The Economic Effects of Taxing Capital Income, published in 1994, continues to serve as the definitive resource on the issue. Jane has also published numerous articles in top tier journals (the American Economic Review, the Journal of Economic Perspectives, the Journal of Economic Literature, and the Journal of Political Economy).  These papers cover diverse issues ranging from the effects of individual retirement accounts (IRAs) on savings behavior to papers on modeling the incidence and efficiency costs of the corporate income tax. She has served on the editorial board and been a frequent contributor to the National Tax Journal and is a regular contributor to Tax Notes.  Jane also has been a coeditor of The Encyclopedia of Taxation and Tax Policy, a comprehensive guide to taxes and tax related issues.  Jane is a past President of the National Tax Association and only the third woman, at the time, to ever hold that position. She earned a BA and an MA in Political Science from the University of Georgia and a PhD in Economics from George Washington University.