NEWS RELEASE
10 January 2008
The University of Abertay Dundee has appointed Professor Alexander Russell to be the new Head of the Dundee Business School.
Professor Russell is currently Head of the Division of Accounting, Finance and Risk in the Caledonian Business School at Glasgow Caledonian University. He will take up his new post in April, when the present Head of the Dundee Business School, Professor Mary Malcolm, becomes Vice-Principal (Academic Development) at Abertay.
For the past four years Professor Russell has been at Caledonian Business School, where he leads a team of 40 staff delivering undergraduate and postgraduate courses as well as research, consultancy and professional training programmes. He currently supervises five PhD students and carries responsibility for finance, budgeting, risk management and planning across the whole Business School.
His interest in research and consultancy has enabled him to work in or supervise staff working in Europe, Africa, the Middle East and Asia. He was a member of the University of Dundee’s accounting and finance submission to the last two Research Assessment Exercises.
Professor Russell’s specialism is oil and gas industry accounting, and he is an active member of the Oil Industry Finance Association. His research activities have taken him to Kuwait, Australia and China on numerous occasions, and his research students have come from Nigeria, China, Kazakhstan, Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore, Saudi Arabia and Libya. He will continue and develop these interests at Abertay, and is expected to take the title of Professor of Petroleum Accounting.
Professor Russell has BSc and PhD degrees from Dundee University. After completing teaching qualifications at Dundee University and Dundee College of Education, he taught at George Watson’s College in Edinburgh, before joining the Timex Corporation in Dundee as an accountant. He then became a lecturer in professional accountancy courses at Dundee College before returning to Dundee University as lecturer and later senior lecturer in accountancy. In 1999, he was appointed Dean of the University’s Faculty of Law and Accountancy, a post he held until 2003 when he joined Glasgow Caledonian University.
He is a Fellow of the Association of Chartered Certified Accountants.
Professor Bernard King, Principal & Vice-Chancellor of Abertay, said that the appointment of Professor Russell was a very significant step for the University.
He commented: “The Dundee Business School has made great strides in recent years under the leadership of Professor Malcolm, reconfiguring itself and evolving to meet the changing demands of 21st century business.
“Professor Russell will bring a wealth of experience in teaching and research that will guide the School’s continuing evolution. He also brings extensive experience and contacts in academia and industry that will open up new areas of opportunity for the School and the University.”
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