Stanton Professor of Urban Policy and Planning Alan Altshuler, who is also the director of the Taubman Center at KSG, said he wanted to give Taubman the benefit of the doubt with regard to the antitrust allegations.
"He's had a 50-year distinguished business career," Altshuler said. "To my knowledge, he's never been in legal difficulty."
Altshuler said that while he has no knowledge of Taubman's business dealings at Sothebys, the contact he has had with Taubman through the KSG center has been positive.
Taubman, 75, has endowed centers for American government at Brown University and the University of Michigan. Altshuler called the business magnate a "major philanthropist" but said he has no particular ties to Harvard.
The New York office of the Justice Department's antitrust division would not comment on whether Taubman had been implicated in any illegal activity.
Taubman's real estate company, which specializes in high-end shopping malls, also declined to comment.