Accountancy appointments

The Department of Accountancy and Business Finance has recently made three high profile appointments, with the promotion of Professor Christine Helliar to the post of Chair of Treasury Management, the recruitment of Dr John Burns, as Chair of Management and Accountancy, and Professor Jim Haslam, as Chair of Accountancy and Business Finance.

Christine joined the Department of Accountancy and Business Finance 13 years ago when she commenced her academic career. She read mathematics and management studies at London University before training as a Chartered Accountant at Ernst and Young in London. After six years at Ernst and Young she embarked upon an investment banking career, working for a number of American banks in the City.

On joining academia she quickly established herself in the area of treasury management, using her previous background to enhance her research, and started the process of her PhD during maternity leave. She has had a number of publications in the area of risk, financial derivatives, treasury management and the control of treasury departments. Christine intends to continue this theme in her future research, together with her interests in auditing, financial reporting, management control and accounting education. She has a number of forthcoming publications under review.

John Burns was previously Senior Lecturer at the School of Accounting and Finance, Manchester University. In 2001, he was Associate Professor at the University of Colorado (Denver) and before that, he was a Research Assistant and then Lecturer at the University of Manchester (1993-2001).

His research interests are primarily in the areas of management accounting and organisational change, although he has also published in both industrial and institutional economics. Current work-in-progress is aimed at high-ranking accounting and institutional economics journals and, increasingly, the management journals.

Jim Haslam BA (Hons), ACA, CA (NZ), ILTM, FRSA, PhD, comes to Dundee from Heriot-Watt University, Edinburgh. He was previously a lecturer at the University of Aston, University College of North Wales, Bangor and the London School of Economics and Political Science of the University of London; a senior lecturer at the University of Essex and a Professor of Accounting at the University of Waikato, New Zealand. In New Zealand and Edinburgh, he accumulated nine years of experience as a Head of Department.

Jim will continue to advance his research interests in accounting history, where much of his work has focused upon the writings of Jeremy Bentham, accounting and ethics and the critical analysis of accounting practice, with increased focus upon the public sector.

Commenting on the appointments, Dean of the Faculty, Professor Colin Reid, said, "The three new professors complement each other wonderfully. Their areas of expertise add depth across the range of the Department’s activity while the balance between two newcomers and one internal appointment offers both new blood and continuity. The appointments add new strength and energy to a department that is already benefiting from the new appointments at lecturer level made at the start of this session. Increased activity at postgraduate level, with the revival of the taught programme for the Masters in Accountancy and an increase in the number of research students is just one early sign of the department's progress."

Sir Alan Langlands congratulated the department, "The appointment of high quality staff is the single most important thing we can do as a University to ensure our success into the future. I am delighted to see Accountancy boosted by this trio of new professors and look forward to the flood of ideas, innovations and activity they will undoubtedly unleash."

Over the last year the University has appointed 20 new professors across a wide range of disciplines bringing the current complement to 144.

Christine, John and Jim will be among the 20 inaugural professors to deliver their presentations at the 2005 Discovery Days on 13 and 14 January.