MBE and OBE for St Andrews’ professors

The Professor of social and environmental accounting and a former Principal of St Mary’s College have been honoured by HM the Queen in her Birthday Honours list published today (Saturday 13 June 2009)

Professor Rob Gray, Director of the Centre for Social and Environmental Accounting Research, is being awarded the MBE for services to the accountancy profession, while Professor Bill Shaw is being awarded an OBE in recognition of long service to charitable causes in Scotland.

Professor Gray is a qualified chartered accountant and author of over 250 books and articles on social and environmental accounting, sustainability, social responsibility and education.

One of the 14 founding members of the British Accounting Association Hall of Fame, Professor Gray has been involved with many organisations concerned with issues of business, society and the environment. In 2001 he was elected the British Accounting Association Distinguished Academic Fellow.

At St Andrews, he teaches in the areas of introductory accounting, research methods, social and environmental accounting, social responsibility and sustainable development, and is also Convenor of the Doctoral Programme in the School of Management.

Speaking ahead of receiving the award in person, Professor Gray said, “I am delighted and astonished in equal measure. It has been my immense privilege to work with so many excellent colleagues over the years in practice, the profession and academe in the development of social and environmental accounting.”

Professor Shaw was Professor of Divinity in St Andrews until his retirement in the early 1990s.  As a scholar and academic leader, he is unique in having served not only as Principal of New College Edinburgh and Dean of the Divinity Faculty in Edinburgh, but also as Principal of St Mary’s College and Dean of the Divinity Faculty in St Andrews.

Still very active, he is a frequent visitor to St Andrews and the University, which has been a beneficiary of his work over many years. In 2005, he was awarded the honorary degree of Doctor of Divinity by the University.

ENDS

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Ref: mbe 130609
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