Richard C. Wilbur (July 1, 1936 – December 27, 2020) was a judge of the

United States Tax Court The United States Tax Court (in case citations, T.C.) is a federal trial court of record established by Congress under Article I of the U.S. Constitution, section 8 of which provides (in part) that the Congress has the power to "constitute Trib ...

from 1974 to 1986.

Early life and education

Born in

Otisville, New York Otisville is a village in Orange County, New York, United States. The population was 969 at the 2020 census. It is part of the Poughkeepsie– Newburgh– Middletown, NY Metropolitan Statistical Area as well as the larger New York– ...

, to Rosemary and Edwin R. Wilbur, Wilbur attended public schools in

, and graduated from Otisville High School in 1954 and received a

B.S. A Bachelor of Science (BS, BSc, SB, or ScB; from the Latin ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for programs that generally last three to five years. The first university to admit a student to the degree of Bachelor of Science was the University ...

from

Manhattan College Manhattan College is a private, Catholic, liberal arts university in the Bronx, New York City. Originally established in 1853 by the Brothers of the Christian Schools (De La Salle Christian Brothers) as an academy for day students, it was la ...

in 1958.''Official Congressional Directory'' (1979), p. 748. While in college, Wilbur played on the school basketball team, where he was "an integral integral part of three postseason appearances for Manhattan", averaging 10.9 points and 6.5 rebounds per game in his senior year and serving as "a key member of Manhattan's 1958 NCAA Tournament run". He received an

LL.B. Bachelor of Laws ( la, Legum Baccalaureus; LL.B.) is an undergraduate law degree in the United Kingdom and most common law jurisdictions. Bachelor of Laws is also the name of the law degree awarded by universities in the People's Republic of Chi ...

from

Notre Dame Law School Notre Dame Law School is the professional graduate law school of the University of Notre Dame. Established in 1869, it is the oldest continuously operating Catholic law school in the United States. ND Law is ranked 22nd among the nation's "Top 1 ...

in 1962, where he was a staff member of the ''Notre Dame Lawyer'', and a member of Gray's Inn and the Student Law Association. He also attended Harvard University's

Kennedy School of Government The Harvard Kennedy School (HKS), officially the John F. Kennedy School of Government, is the school of public policy and government of Harvard University in Cambridge, Massachusetts. The school offers master's degrees in public policy, public ...

for one year pursuant to a congressional staff fellowship awarded by the

American Political Science Association The American Political Science Association (APSA) is a professional association of political science students and scholars in the United States. Founded in 1903 in the Tilton Memorial Library (now Tilton Hall) of Tulane University in New Orleans, ...

Career

Wilbur was a tax attorney in the IRS Office of Chief Counsel from 1962 to 1964. From 1965 to 1969, he was assistant minority counsel to the

United States House Committee on Ways and Means The Committee on Ways and Means is the chief tax-writing committee of the United States House of Representatives. The committee has jurisdiction over all taxation, tariffs, and other revenue-raising measures, as well as a number of other program ...

, then served as minority counsel to that committee from 1969 to July 1974. During his service to the committee, he "worked on major legislation in the areas of Tax, Trade, Social Security, welfare reform, and enactment of Medicare and Medicaid". On June 7, 1974, President

Richard Nixon Richard Milhous Nixon (January 9, 1913April 22, 1994) was the 37th president of the United States, serving from 1969 to 1974. A member of the Republican Party, he previously served as a representative and senator from California and was ...

nominated Wilbur to the United States Tax Court for a 15-year term. Wilbur retired from the Tax Court in 1986."Senate Panel Approves U.S. Tax Court Nominee", ''Anderson Independent-Mail'' (September 24, 1986), p. 4.

Personal life and death

Wilbur married Joan Paterson in 1959, with whom he had two children, daughter Michelle and son Carl. He died at the end of 2020.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Wilbur, Richard C. 1936 births 2020 deaths People from Otisville, New York Manhattan College alumni Notre Dame Law School alumni Judges of the United States Tax Court United States Article I federal judges appointed by Richard Nixon