The Canadian Academic Accounting Association (CAAA) and the Canadian Accounting Hall of Fame (CAHF) Board of Directors have announced that the UBC Sauder School of Business’ Professor Emeritus Dan Simunic has been included in the inaugural group of inductees for 2021 into the Canadian Accounting Hall of Fame. He has been inducted in the “Leaders of the Profession” category.
Professor Emeritus Simunic joined the Faculty of Commerce and Business Administration at UBC in 1979, where he served for 39 years. He became a CGA in 1988, and from 1994, he held the CGA Chair in Accounting until his retirement in 2018, although he served as a visiting professor at various times at universities in Hong Kong, Australia, New Zealand, Europe and the US. He was very active in the PhD program at UBC, serving as supervisor or co-supervisor for eight PhD students, and committee member or university examiner for five others.
Professor Emeritus Simunic served as co-editor of Contemporary Accounting Research from 1997 to 2000, as editor of other accounting journals, and as technical advisor to the International Auditing and Assurance Standards Board from 1988 to 1997. He has been honoured by the Certified General Accountants Association of Canada, has received awards from the CAAA and the Auditing Section of the American Accounting Association, and has published highly-cited papers in prestigious academic journals.
"Dan was one of the first accounting scholars to bring an economic perspective to the study of auditing,” said Professor Russell Lundholm, Chair of the Accounting and Information Systems Division at UBC Sauder. “He contributed both theoretical models and empirical studies to the literature, often working with UBC Sauder's PhD students, who are now themselves making significant contributions. Dan’s prolific scholarship continues to be an inspiration to us all."
The CAHF recognizes and honours individuals who have made significant contributions to the development of the Canadian accounting profession or, as Canadians, have made contributions to the development of accounting elsewhere in the world. These contributions may have been in practice (including assurance, financial reporting, management accounting, taxation, corporate governance, and accounting related consultancy), through professional associations, regulatory bodies, or through academic pursuits. The CAHF is also conceived as a curated biographical history of accounting in Canada. This resource will benefit students and practitioners in developing their understanding of accounting in Canada, and reinforces the role that accounting has played, and continues to play, in the development of Canadian society.
