R: It was in my mind when I got Freeland to come back here to teach. He was
 one of our graduates in the 1950s and I guess you could look up when he
 came back here to teach. But when he came back I was expanding the
 regular J. D. tax offerings with the idea that that was the best way to
 get prepared to offer graduates instruction in tax.

D: There were only one or two tax courses when you arrived, were there not?

R: Only one, really.

D: How was the program organized in the early years? How many professors did
 you have?

R: I think we decided we could not go with less than five and one other
 person to teach in the criminal law area. We had Freeland, Lind, [Stephen
 A. Lind, Professor, University of Florida College of Law, (1970-present)]
 Lokken, [Lawrence A. Lokken, Professor, University of Florida College of
 Law, (1974-1982)] Miller, and me. Fenn taught a tax-related course in
 fiduciary administration. I think that was the initial group.

D: The first year was 1975? I think that is when I read that it began.
 Where were you located?

R: Well, there was no place precisely for the graduate tax program, but my
 office building was the office on the third floor of the southwest corner
 of the building, and in the adjoining secretarial office I put in a little
 tax library for the faculty. I had something of a collection of tax
 books, and we got some help from Betty Taylor, [Grace Elizabeth Taylor,
 Assistant Reference of Bibliography, University of Florida College of Law,
 (1950-present)] a law school librarian. I made these books accessible to
 the tax faculty and sometimes to graduate students. Then we moved the tax
 collection of the library itself up to the third floor, across from where
 the offices of the tax program are now located. That became kind of the
 graduate tax area. It was not designated as such, I think, but that is
 where most of the graduate students studied, and we had some little
 cubicles there for people who were working as assistants for the
 professors, and that sort of thing.

D: I think the tax students still use that third floor?

R: I think so. That may change now, they are doing this other thing.

D: Yes. So you helped to establish the Richard B. Stephens Tax Research
 Center at the law school?

R: Yes. There was no substantial tax collection when I came here, but I do
 not claim any real credit for that. I mean, we were teaching and writing.
 People came in and offered books to be bought and so forth, but they dealt
 mostly with Betty Taylor in the library. I think the library should claim
 the credit for it. Of course, they acted on our advice. But most of it
 has been developed since most of us who teach tax were here. I do not
 claim any special credit for it.

D: How do you feel about the Tax Research Center now that they are
 establishing it? Has that come a long way?


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