Kansas Farm Bureau Funds Washburn Law Professor of Agricultural Law and Taxation Position

Photograph: Roger McEowenWashburn University School of Law is pleased to announce that Kansas Farm Bureau is funding the new Professor of Agricultural Law and Taxation position at Washburn Law.

Washburn Law’s faculty has selected Roger McEowen for the position that will be known as the Kansas Farm Bureau Professor of Agricultural Law and Taxation at Washburn University School of Law. McEowen commenced his position in February 2016 and is working with Martin Wisneski, assistant director of the Law Library and head of Technical Services, to roll out in April the new Washburn Agricultural Law & Tax Report. The Report will be a free web-based publication that will available on this website. The Report will address all aspects of agricultural law and tax law of interest to lawyers, tax professionals, and the agricultural community.

This summer, McEowen will be teaching agricultural law courses at Washburn Law and will be participating in continuing legal education programs. He will organize a symposium with Kansas State University (KSU) focusing on the business of agriculture and the related law and tax considerations. The first symposium, titled “Exploring the Intersection of Law and Business in Agriculture,” will take place this fall. McEowen will also serve as a liaison with KSU’s agriculture programs.

David Pierce, director of Washburn Law’s Oil and Gas Law Center, commented on McEowen’s appointment: “For more than 20 years, I have admired Roger’s work as a professor, scholar, commentator, and authoritative source for all things related to agriculture. I have often thought of ways to make him a part of the Washburn Law program. With the support of faculty, administration, and Kansas Farm Bureau, we have been able to make that happen. I know of no other individual versed in agricultural law and taxation who comes close to his level of knowledge and ability to teach it so well to so many. I have spent many Monday mornings shortly after 6:00 a.m. listening to his radio programs that make the law accessible to all members of the farming community. He is a tremendous asset not only to Washburn, but also to Kansas and the other states where he focuses his analysis and shares his thoughts on agricultural law and taxation.”

McEowen has vast teaching experience in the classroom and in presenting professional seminars. His most recent teaching position was the Leonard Dolezal Professor in Agricultural Law at Iowa State University (ISU), where he was also the director of the ISU Center for Agricultural Law and Taxation. Before joining ISU in 2004, he was an associate professor of agricultural law and extension specialist in agricultural law and policy at KSU. Before entering academia, McEowen was a lawyer with Kelley, Scritsmier and Byrne in North Platte, Neb. He previously served as a visiting professor of law at the University of Arkansas School of Law’s J.D. and LL.M. programs and at Washburn Law. He also taught at the Drake University School of Law Summer Institute in Agricultural Law.

In 2003, Professor McEowen was named the recipient of the American Agricultural Law Association (AALA) Distinguished Service Award. He is also the recipient of the AALA’s award of excellence for professional scholarship. McEowen is widely published in law reviews and in other agricultural law publications, and conducts national agricultural tax and law seminars. He also offers commentary on agriculture and tax issues through regular radio and television appearances.

McEowen will split his time between Washburn Law and the certified public accounting firm of CliftonLarsonAllen LLP, where he is a tax director, Midwest Region Agribusiness and Cooperatives. McEowen will also continue his association with KSU in presenting his tax school programming and participating in other ways with KSU’s agriculture programs.