Professor awarded the first Doctor of Letters
Wed, 07 Aug 2013 13:22:00 BST
Exceptional portfolio of published research receives special award
Pictured: Standing next to Professor Chris Cowton, Dean of the Business School (left), is Paul Grimwood, formerly the CEO and Chairman of Nestlé UK & Ireland and now CEO of Nestlé USA, on his visit to the University last year alongside the Vice-Chancellor, Professor Bob Cryan.
THE prolific output of one of the University of Huddersfield’s most distinguished academics has earned him a rare honour.
Professor Chris Cowton (left), who is Dean of the Business School and an internationally renowned expert on business and financial ethics, has been awarded the first Doctor of Letters (DLitt) degree to be bestowed by the University.
It is what is known as a Higher Doctorate, a research degree that is awarded to candidates who are able to submit a portfolio of published research that reaches an exceptionally high standard, establishing the author as a leading authority in the field.
Professor Cowton’s portfolio consisted of 46 journal papers, 14 book chapters and three monographs.
Pictured left: Professor Cowton gives a presentation on 'How to Publish' to delegates at the Emerging Markets Research Group's Anglo-Czech Doctoral Education Conference.
He began his career as an accountant, before graduating with First Class Honours and prizes in Accounting and Financial Management from the University of Sheffield. He then embarked on a lecturing career and acquired new qualifications. He spent ten years working at the University of Oxford, before joining the University of Huddersfield as Professor of Accounting in 1996, becoming Dean of the Business School in 2008.
Professor Cowton’s research and writing increasingly focused on business ethics, particularly in relation to finance. He conducted the first academic research on charitable donations by UK companies, and was awarded a PhD for pioneering work on socially responsible investment.
His research branched out into banking ethics – long before it became of widespread public concern. He also investigated professional ethics, especially in the field of accounting. His pioneering publications have been cited widely, and he has taken a full role in the development of business ethics as an area of teaching, research and policy.
Professor Cowton’s external appointments have included a term of office as Chair of the UK chapter of the European Business Ethics and for the past decade he has been Editor of Business Ethics: A European Review, one of the top international journals in the field. He is a current member of the Ethics Standards Committee of the Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales.
Professor Cowton commented: "I was delighted to receive the degree of DLitt, marking both a personal milestone and a small piece of University history - particularly as it was conferred by the Vice-Chancellor, Professor Bob Cryan, who was the first person to be awarded a Huddersfield DSc."
