Tax Policy Expert Contributes Time, Money to Make UT Even More ‘Phenomenal’
Todd Metcalf, a principal at PwC and a tax policy expert who spent many years working on Capitol Hill, once ran into an acquaintance from his days on the Clinton-Gore campaign at the Knoxville airport.
The man’s college-bound daughter had toured UT, and she had been wowed.
While the girl might have opted for any number of prestigious east coast universities, Metcalf wasn’t surprised she’d fallen in love with UT.
“UT is a phenomenal community,” he said. “That tower on top of the Hill is a beacon.”
The recipient of a 2018 Accomplished Alumni Award, Metcalf (BA, honors political science, ’93) serves on the College of Arts and Sciences Dean’s advisory board and the Alumni Board of Directors. He’s contributed to the Pride Center, UT Bands, the Humanities Center, and other campus entities, and he has included UT in his estate plans.
Metcalf said his philanthropy to UT was “jumpstarted” when political controversy caused the Pride Center to lose state funding a few years ago.
“That was my first big pledge to UT,” he said, explaining that he and a few other donors came together to ensure the center would remain open.
Metcalf, who played clarinet in the Pride of the Southland and marched with the band in Bill Clinton’s 1993 inaugural parade, also contributes to UT band scholarships. He’s also endowed a scholarship for a clarinet player and helped fund the Pride’s archive project.
A native of Sparta, Tenn., Metcalf received an Andy Holt Scholarship from the UT Alumni Association that helped pay his way through college. To return the favor, he’s endowed a scholarship for students from the Upper Cumberland area of Tennessee.
“I benefitted from someone else’s largesse,” he said. “So I thought, ‘How can I help other kids go to school?’”
After UT, Metcalf went on to earn his law degree at Washington University.
Just before joining PwC (PricewaterhouseCoopers), he was chief tax counsel for the Senate Finance Committee and served as deputy director of the Office of Recovery at the Department of Labor in the Obama Administration. He worked for eight years in the House of Representatives and began his career in Washington, D.C., at two large global law firms. During his time in government, he helped craft several major pieces of legislation, including the Emergency Economic Stabilization Act, Dodd-Frank Act, Matthew Shepard and James Byrd Jr. Hate Crimes Prevention Act, Affordable Care Act, Bipartisan Budget Act, and the PATH Act, which made permanent tax policies aimed at helping working families and low-income people.
Metcalf lives in Washington, D.C., with Percy, his miniature Bernedoodle (Bernese Mountain dog-poodle mix). The pup is named after Percy Pigs, a British brand of pig-shaped fruit-flavored candies.
In his free time, Metcalf enjoys reading, especially biographies and histories, and he’s an avid traveler.
No matter where he is, though, he keeps his UT gear handy.
Friends and colleagues from Washington, D.C., to London and far beyond “all know that every Friday is Big Orange Friday,” he said.
-Story by Amy Blakely
