Professor Howard Thomas, Dean of SMU Lee Kong Chian School of Business, has been conferred the prestigious Richard Whipp Lifetime Achievement Award by the British Academy of Management, as well as an Honorary Doctorate of Letters by Murdoch University in Australia.

These awards are affirmation of his distinguished scholarship and outstanding contributions to the development and education of business and management.  In particular, the Richard Whipp Lifetime Award, which is designed to reward an outstanding career within the Business and Management field, is based on nominations from the accomplished person’s colleagues and peers in the Business and Management Community, and is therefore a highly-regarded accolade.

In their nominations, Professor Thomas’ peers commended him on his ‘multi-faceted contributions to the field’.  These include being an ‘innovator in Management Education in the UK/US and Asia and a successful leader of three major business schools; and also being a ‘major contributor to professional bodies in Management Education’.

The honorary degree conferred by Murdoch University on Professor Thomas is his fifth.  In 2007, he was awarded his first honorary degree by the University of Edinburgh, his second in 2008 by Swansea University, in Wales, the third in 2011 by Grenoble School of Management in France, and most recently in July 2013, by Newcastle Business School of Northumbria University, UK.

The author of over 30 books and 200 articles, Professor Howard Thomas’ career in business and management education has spanned nearly 50 years.  He has been a business school dean on three continents – University of Illinois, USA; Warwick Business School, UK and Singapore Management University, Asia, and is one of the most highly-cited scholars in his field.

[Photo: Professor Howard Thomas with Professor Peter McKiernan, Dean of the School of Management and Governance, Murdoch University, Australia.  (Photograph courtesy of Murdoch University).]

Murdoch University’s Dean of the School of Management and Governance Professor Peter McKiernan said Professor Thomas had transformed business schools around the world.

“He is the first business school academic to head major schools on three continents and he has contributed to the major strategic repositioning of Murdoch’s School of Management and Governance.  However, it is Professor Thomas’s character that sets him apart from his peers, with his support of young academics.  Through his stewardship, many of his fresh-faced PhD students are found now in senior positions at business schools around the globe,” said Professor McKiernan.

[Featured Photo: British Academy of Management (BAM) confers Lifetime Achievement Award on Professor Howard Thomas (right).  With him is BAM President Professor Abby Ghobadian, Henley Business School.  (Photograph courtesy of BAM)]