THE 7TH ANNUAL

AUSTRALIAN ACCOUNTING

HALL OF FAME

DINNER AND AWARDS CEREMONY

2016 PHOTO ALBUM

John Angus Lancaster Gunn OBE

CITATION read by

John Balmford Former Partner

Fitzgerald, Gunn & Partners

nominated by

John Balmford and Baard Solnordal Former Partners

Fitzgerald, Gunn & Partners

accepted on behalf of John Gunn by

Reverend David Palmer

Grandson, John Gunn

1892 - 1962

2016 Inductee

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CITATION

John Angus Lancaster Gunn CBE

Born in Brisbane of Scottish descent, John Gunn’s early life was spent in various

parts of rural Queensland. On 16 February 1915 he embarked on five years active

service in Egypt, initially engaged in fieldwork with the Army Service Corps and later

at Australian Army Headquarters in Cairo. As a Captain he returned to Australia in

July 1920 and was formally discharged in November 1920. Following de-mobilisation

he studied for admission to the Institute of Incorporated Accountants of NSW (IIA-

NSW), later Commonwealth Institute of Accountants (CIA), qualifying in 1923. In

1928 he enrolled as a part-time Bachelor of Economics student at the University of

Sydney setting up as a sole practitioner at the same time. He qualified for

membership of The Institute of Chartered Accountants in Australia (ICAA) in 1932

and subsequently joined chartered accountant, Paul Cullen practising under the firm

name of J.A.L. Gunn & Paul Cullen. Interstate links forged with Fitzgerald &

Tompson in 1961 produced the national firm of Fitzgerald Gunn & Partners an

antecedent of the present-day EY. John Gunn spent his entire professional career in

Income Tax and established a major national reputation, acknowledged by clients,

professional colleagues and government authorities alike. In taxation publishing

circles he is best known for the substantive volume Gunn's Commonwealth Income

Tax Law and Practice. This monumental work, first published by Butterworth in 1943

eventually ran to seven editions with co-authorship up until his death by several of

his partners. It was the only comprehensive reference on Australian income tax for

many years. In 1934 he gave extensive evidence to the Ferguson Royal Commission

on Taxation. High-level work for the Commonwealth Government followed and

included membership of the Taxation Advisory Committee from 1943 to 1945, the

Canteen Board 1943 to 1945 and the Commonwealth Committee on Taxation 1949

to 1954. Stepped rates of tax and reforms to company tax were major outcomes from

this latter committee. In 1948 he assisted the Maltese authorities in writing a new

Income Tax Bill. John Gunn delivered research lectures for the then Commonwealth

Institute of Accountants at the University of Melbourne in August 1942 and the

University of Western Australia in October 1946. Throughout his career John Gunn

retained membership of the Australian Society of Accountants and the ICAA. He was

a Councillor of the antecedent IIA-NSW from 1926 to 1930 and of the CIA from1937

until 1939. For his war service John Gunn received the British War Medal, 1914/15

Star and the Victory Medal. In recognition of his contribution to reforms and

development of taxation law in Australia John Gunn was made Commander of the

British Empire in 1955 and in 1956 he was awarded Life Membership of the

Australian Society of Accountants.

The Australian Accounting Hall of Fame honours John Angus Lancaster Gunn as a

war veteran, practitioner, office holder and eminent pioneering taxation specialist.

2016

John Balmford reading the citation for the late John Gunn with co-nominator Baard Solnordal

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David Palmer accepting the award on behalf of his

late grandfather John Gunn from speaker Judith

Downes

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John Balmford, Stephen Palmer (John Gunn’s grandson), David Palmer (John Gunn’s

grandson and representative) and Baard Solnordal

2016

Michael Sharpe AO

CITATION read by

Rob Ward Head Leadership & Advocacy Chartered Accountants Australia & New Zealand

nominated by

Rob Ward

Head Leadership & Advocacy Chartered Accountants Australia & New Zealand

2016 Inductee

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CITATION

Michael John Sharpe AO

Michael Sharpe has had a distinguished career in business and accounting over

many decades both in Australia and internationally. As a graduate in Economics from

the University of Sydney he joined then Coopers & Lybrand in 1955 remaining with

successor firms in international and national executive positions until his retirement

in 1998. He continued in an advisory role with PricewaterhouseCoopers until 2009.

During his long career in practice Michael Sharpe was also actively involved as an

international standard setter serving the profession as Chairman of the International

Accounting Standards Committee (IASC) from 1995 until 1997 at a time of an

irreversible movement towards the harmonisation of financial reporting throughout

the world, a process that continues to this day. In leading the Committee, Michael

Sharpe was instrumental in encouraging the adoption of these standards by over

100 countries, with many others progressing towards adoption. During this period he

also led a comprehensive review of the structure of the IASC designed to enhance

its independence. This review was instrumental in the formation, in 2001 of the

International Accounting Standards Board. As Chairman of Coopers & Lybrand's

International Accounting and Audit Committee from 1983-1986 he was instrumental

in the development of auditing methodology that forms the basis of the present-day

auditing curriculum in many Australian and overseas universities. Michael Sharpe’s

service to the accounting profession is also evident in his important contribution to

accounting education. First, serving as Chairman of the NSW Education Committee

of the Institute of Chartered Accountants in Australia (ICAA), then on the National

Examination Committee, he was responsible for overseeing the change in

examination format to the Professional Year. In 1982 he was elected President of the

ICAA and worked tirelessly to support the professional education of chartered

accountants and the accreditation of accounting programmes at universities around

Australia. During his presidency he had the foresight to adopt a policy stance on the

impact of technology on accounting and auditing, a relatively new phenomenon in

the business world at that time. Michael Sharpe's considerable contribution to

accounting and the Australian community is evidenced by the award of Member of

the Order of Australia in 1991. In 1999 The University of Sydney conferred on him

the degree Doctor of Science in Economics (honoris causa) and in 2000 he was

appointed an Officer in the Order of Australia.

The Australian Accounting Hall of Fame honours Michael John Sharpe as a

practitioner, distinguished standard-setter and office-holder.

Rob Ward reading the citation for Michael Sharpe AO

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Michael Sharpe AO accepting his award from

speaker Judith Downes

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Michael, Trish and Andrew Sharpe

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Ross L Watts

CITATION read by

Philip Brown Emeritus Professor University of Western Australia

nominated by

Philip Brown

Emeritus Professor University of Western Australia

2016 Inductee

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CITATION

Ross L Watts Ross Watts was raised in Newcastle, NSW. In 1964 he qualified as a Chartered Accountant

and has been a member of the Institute of Chartered Accountants in Australia for more than

fifty years. Ross graduated BCom with first class honours from the University of Newcastle in

1966 before attending the University of Chicago where he graduated MBA in 1968 and PhD in

1971. In January 1971 he was appointed Assistant Professor at the University of Rochester. In

1974 he joined the University of Newcastle as Professor of Commerce but in 1975 returned to

Rochester, where he remained for the next thirty years. In 2005 he was appointed professor in

the Sloan School at Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) and, in 2008 he became

Erwin H. Schell Professor of Management, and Professor of Accounting. Ross Watts is among

the most heavily cited accounting academics in the world today. His paper titled “Corporate

financial statements, a product of the market and political processes”, published in 1977 in the

Australian Journal of Management, was the trigger point for a very large literature that focuses

on financial accounting’s control role. His 1978 paper with Jerold L. Zimmerman, “Towards a

positive theory of the determination of accounting practices” and published in The Accounting

Review, was seminal. Another of their papers, published in 1983 in the Journal of Law and

Economics and titled “Agency problems, auditing and the theory of the firm: some evidence”,

traced the development of Anglo-American accounting. They maintained the argument that

financial statements were substantially influenced by the demand for corporate control. More

recently Ross Watts has focused on conservatism in accounting. His two “explanatory” papers

published in 2004 in Accounting Horizons are especially well-known. Ross Watt’s editorial

contribution has been extensive. In 1972 he joined the editorial board of the Journal of

Accounting Research and in 1975 was appointed an associate editor of the Journal of Financial

Economics. On the urging of his Dean at Rochester, William Meckling, in 1979 Ross Watts

launched, as co-editor with Jerold Zimmerman, the Journal of Accounting and Economics. His

other contributions include director of the Accounting Research Network, Division of Social

Science Research Network and founding editor, Journal of Accounting Abstracts. He remains a

board member of the Australian Journal of Management. Ross Watts has chaired or been a

member of the PhD committee of almost 50 candidates many of whom have made major

contributions to accounting scholarship. Ross Watts has received myriad awards including the

University of Newcastle Alumni Medal for Professional Excellence in 2013; the American

Accounting Association FARS Inaugural Lifetime Achievement Award in 2013; the American

Accounting Association Seminal Contribution to Accounting Literature Award, shared with

Jerold Zimmerman in 2004; the American Accounting Association Outstanding Accounting

Educator Award in 2000; and the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants Award for

Notable Contribution to Accounting Literature, received in 1978 and again in 1979 for papers

with Jerold L. Zimmerman.

The Australian Accounting Hall of Fame honours Ross Watts as an eminent accounting

researcher and thinker. In so doing it acknowledges the extraordinary impact his research

output has had on the accounting research community and the accounting discipline.

Philip Brown reading the citation for Ross L Watts

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Ross L Watts accepting his award from speaker

Judith Downes

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Ross and Nancy Watts

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2016 Inductees

L-R: Ross L Watts, Michael Sharpe AO and David Palmer for the late John Gunn CBE

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Head of the Department of Accounting Matt Pinnuck Special Guest Speaker Judith Downes

Centre for Accounting & Industry Partnerships directors and speaker,

Judith Downes

L-R Stewart Leech, Judith Downes, Brad Potter and Kevin Stevenson

Accounting Hall of Fame Director, Phill Cobbin

2016 Guests

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CAIP directors with sponsors L-R James Guthrie (CAANZ), Stewart Leech,

Jon Aloni (CPA), Brad Potter, Kevin Stevenson

Judith Downes with Dean, Faculty of Business & Economics Paul

Kofman

L-R seated Win Leslie, Bob Nicol, Ken Wright, Geoff Burrows,

L-R standing Ken Burrows, Keith Alfredson, Keith James, Danni Balmford,

Baard Solnordal, Garry Carnegie L-R Jeffrey Lucy, Keith Alfredson, John Stanhope, Judith Downes

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The Centre for Accounting and Industry Partnerships in The Department of Accounting, The University of Melbourne

thank our sponsors for their generous support