Faculty Conversation: Jim Wooten, A Historical Perspective on the "Crisis" of Pension Funding
Today's program is a conversation between UB Law Professors Jim Wooten and Martha McCluskey, on Jim's paper in progress, "A Historical Perspective on the 'Crisis' of Pension Funding."
Music: Back to the Cool, by Somewhere off Jazz Street.
Play It Now!
Jim Wooten grew up in a small steeltown in northeast Texas. After graduating from Rice University in 1981, Wooten moved to the University of Chicago, where he spent two years pursuing graduate studies in the Department of Anthropology. In 1985, Wooten entered a J.D./Ph.D. program at Yale University. After completing his law degree in 1989, Wooten clerked for Federal District Judge William Wayne Justice of the Eastern District of Texas. In 1992-93, Wooten was an associate at Bredhoff & Kaiser, one of the nation's leading firms in the fields of labor and employee benefit law. Wooten later served as Legal History Fellow at Yale Law School and as a Golieb Fellow in Legal History at New York University School of Law before joining the faculty of UB Law School in 1995. Wooten received his Ph.D. in American Studies from Yale University in 2003.
At UB Law, Wooten teaches courses on Pension and Employee Benefit Law, Bankruptcy, Federal Income Taxation, and Legislative Policy-Making. He has also taught courses on Tax Policy, the Development of the Administrative State in the United States, and the History of Health Policy in the United States. Wooten's research focuses on legislative policy-making and, in particular, the history and development of the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974.
In April 2000, the editors of the Buffalo Law Review recognized Wooten for oustanding contributions to the Review. In May 2003, he received a Young Investigator Award from UB's Exceptional Scholar Program for outstanding achievements in scholarly activity. In the same month, UB Law School's Class of 2003 presented Wooten the Faculty Award for outstanding service and dedication.
