Adjunct Professor Jim Donovan Nominated to Serve as U.S. Treasury Deputy Secretary

Jim Donovan, an adjunct professor at the University of Virginia School of Law and a managing director of Goldman Sachs, has been nominated to fill the post of deputy secretary of the U.S. Treasury Department.

“Jim Donovan has been teaching courses in our Law & Business Program for eight years, and during that time he has given our students unique and invaluable instruction in corporate strategy and client relations,” said Dean Risa Goluboff. “We are fortunate to have him as a member of the UVA Law community and hope to have him back when he concludes his public service.”

Donovan is responsible for advising many of the largest corporate and individual clients of Goldman Sachs. He joined the firm in 1993 and was named a partner in 2000. During his career at Goldman Sachs, he has worked in investment banking and investment management, and on corporate strategy.

Donovan earned his B.S. degree in chemical engineering from MIT and an MBA from MIT Sloan School in 1989. He earned his J.D. from Harvard Law School in 1993. Donovan serves on the Foundation for the National Institutes of Health Board of Directors, and on the Board of Trustees of the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute. He is a member of The Lank Center for Genitourinary Oncology, and established the Christy and Jim Donovan Fund for Prostate Cancer Research at DFCI in 2008 in honor of his late friend, who died of cancer. An avid runner, he participates in road races to raise money for cancer prevention and treatment.

Donovan has lectured at the school several times on the topic of client relationships.

Donovan has taught short courses on corporate strategy and leadership at UVA Law since 2009.

Jason Jones ’12, an associate in a corporate law firm in Salt Lake City who spoke to The New York Times about his experience in Donovan’s class, said Donovan gave memorable advice on topics like mentoring, work-life balance and time management.

“He was willing to talk about anything,” Jones told the Times.

Donovan joins other UVA Law faculty and alumni who have worked at the highest levels of the Treasury Department.

Former professor Mortimer Caplin ’40 served as commissioner of the Internal Revenue Service, the Treasury’s largest bureau, from 1961 to 1964. Gerald D. Parsky ’68 served as an assistant secretary of the Treasury Department from 1974 to 1977, and Professor Edwin S. Cohen ’36 took leave from teaching to serve as assistant secretary for tax policy from 1969 to 1972, then as an under secretary of the Treasury from 1972 to 1973. In the Ronald Reagan administration, J. Roger Mentz '66 served as assistant secretary of the Treasury for tax policy from December 1985 until August 1987, and wrote a book about his experiences, "Tales of Tax Reform."