Not Just Whistling Dixie.

An Interview with TEI President Charles W. Shewbridge, III

Charles W. Shewbridge, III, the Institute's 51st President, has been a member of TEI since 1981, first with the Virginia Chapter, and sine 1984 with the Atlanta Chapter, for which he served as 1988-1989 Chapter President. Mr. Shewbridge has been a member of the Institute's Board of Directors for a decade and has served on the Executive Committee for five of those years. As Chief Tax Executive for BellSouth Corporation in Atlanta, Mr. Shewbridge is responsible for all federal, state, local, and international tax matters for the corporation. Born and raised in Richmond, Virginia, Mr. Shewbridge earned a bachelor's degree in accounting from the city's Virginia Commonwealth University in 1966.

Charles W. Shewbridge, III, of the Atlanta Chapter was installed as Tax Executives Institute's 1999-2000 International President in Newport Beach, California on August 10, 1999. Just who is this man who, as TEI's 51st President, will lead the Institute out of one millennium and into another? What goals has he set for Tax Executives Institute in the coming year? In an effort to answer these questions and introduce Chuck Shewbridge to the Institute's 5,200 members, The Tax Executive sat down with Chuck recently. An edited version of the interview follows.

The Tax Executive (TTE): Congratulations on becoming TEI's President, Chuck, and thanks for making time to do this interview. As Barbara Walters might say in a situation like this, who is Chuck Shewbridge? What qualifies him to lead the preeminent association of business tax professionals in the world into the next millennium?

Charles W. Shewbridge, III (CWS): Barbara Walters? Don't you look more like Hugh Downs? Seriously, to be an effective leader of TEI -- and we've been fortunate to have many over the years, including my immediate predecessor, Les Ezrati -- you need four critical elements: First and most obviously, I think a successful TEI leader must enjoy and have an acuity for the technical aspects of corporate taxation. None of us would even be a member of TEI if we didn't have that, though as you move up in management you often find it challenging to maintain your tax expertise.

Second, and this actually flows from my first point, you need to have a desire to improve the tax law and how it is administered. TEI's primary goal is to make the tax laws more administrable, so to lead the Institute effectively, you must be committed to that.

Third, you need to have a clear-headed perspective of the corporate tax landscape and TEI's role in it. The Institute represents 2,800 corporate taxpayers in the United States, Canada, and now in Europe. Because of our diversity, we transcend special interest groups and industry sectors. Our concern is the fairness and administrability and competitiveness of the tax system as a whole, not how it affects a particular industry or group. This position gives us, I feel, a great deal of credibility and a growing effectiveness. The people who make and administer the tax laws, as well as the taxpayers who operate under those laws ... they listen when we speak. With this stature, however, comes responsibility. TEI cannot be all things to all people. The Institute must be judicious in wielding its influence by maintaining its objectivity in the continuing challenge to improve tax systems.

Finally -- and I believe it's appropriate to quote a president when addressing what it takes to be an effective president -- Theodore Roosevelt said something that we reprint in each...