Sheldon V. Ekman

Sheldon Victor Ekman (March 12, 1920 – January 21, 1982) was an American attorney and tax law expert who served as a judge of the United States Tax Court from 1980 to 1982.

Born in Manchester, New Hampshire, Ekman received an A.B. from Harvard College in 1939,[1][2] followed by a J.D. from Harvard Law School in 1942. He served in the United States Navy in World War II, from 1942 to 1945, attaining the rank of lieutenant.[2][3]

He was a trial attorney in the Office of Chief Counsel, Internal Revenue Service, in New York City, from 1945 to 1950. He then enterered private practice as a tax principal with S. D. Leidesdorf & Co., also in New York, from 1950 to 1969.[2] He was then a partner with Reavis & McGrath in New York from 1969 to 1980, also becoming an adjunct professor of law and taxation at New York University in 1979.[2]

He also taught classes at various points for Ohio State University, Rutgers University, the University of Miami, New York Law School, and The New School for Social Research.[3] Ekman "wrote extensively on his specialties and his research was published in various proceedings".[3]

On June 2, 1980, President Jimmy Carter appointed Ekman to the U.S. Tax Court for a 15-year term, to succeed Judge William M. Drennen.[2]

Ekman married Judith Saturen in 1943, with whom he had a son Richard H., and a daughter, Joanna K.[2] Two years after his appointment to the Tax Court, Ekman died from a heart attack at the age of 61, while on judicial assignment in Philadelphia.[3]