Skip to main content

Newsroom

Mystica Alexander’s previous career as a tax attorney prepared her well for the challenges of teaching at Bentley, where she finds students are eager and ready to learn and lean into the material. Her teaching interests include the legal and ethical business environment, federal income taxation of corporations and shareholders, and tax research methodology. She holds a JD from Harvard University Law School.

How did you get started teaching in the graduate Taxation program?

More than twenty years ago, while working as a tax attorney at a large Boston law firm, I decided to teach graduate tax courses part-time in order to share my knowledge and skills with the next generation of tax professionals.  After teaching part-time for several years, I arrived at Bentley in 2004 as an adjunct professor teaching business law classes.  Soon thereafter I began to teach corporate taxation in the Masters of Science in Taxation Program, which was a natural fit given my experience in corporate taxation issues.

What excites you about the research you’re working on now?

My approach to scholarship is to choose topics that I consider both interesting and relevant.  In the tax arena, I tend to focus on the impact tax policy has on current controversies.  For example, at the time of the national debate over health care reform beginning in 2008, I focused my research on the tax policy behind the health care revisions.  My most recent tax research focused on how tax policies can be utilized to encourage sustainability.  I enjoy the satisfaction of collaborating with colleagues and producing scholarship that has the potential to influence how tax policy is used to impact current issues facing society.

What’s your favorite thing about working with Bentley graduate students?

I am most impressed by the level of enthusiasm and commitment that my graduate tax students bring to the classroom.  Bentley students come to class prepared and ready to learn.

What was your first job after grad school?

Upon graduation from Harvard Law School, I worked as a tax attorney at one of the leading Boston law firms.