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Professor Niamh Brennan, Michael MacCormac Professor of Management at University College Dublin and Founder/Academic Director of the UCD Centre for Corporate Governance, was awarded the prestigious Distinguished Academic Award of the British Accounting and Finance Association (BAFA) presented in recognition of her substantial and direct contribution to UK academic accounting and finance life. In the 25 years of this award, this is the first time that it has been awarded to an academic from outside of the UK, which signals international recognition of Dr Brennan’s contributions to the field.

The Distinguished Academic Award is made annually to an individual who has had a significant impact on UK academic accounting and finance life through research, teaching and public service over an accomplished career. Alongside publishing more than 100 research papers and articles on accounting, corporate governance and finance, Professor Brennan’s scholarly profile lists over 4,300 citations. She also serves on the Editorial Board of the British Accounting Review, BAFA’s international peer-reviewed academic journal, and is an active member of the organisation’s doctoral master classes.

Professor Brennan is a chartered accountant with KPMG, holds a PhD from the University of Warwick and is a Chartered Director of the Institute of Directors (London). An inaugural honorary fellow of the Institute of Directors in Ireland and an honorary fellow of the Society of Actuaries in Ireland, she has held visiting academic positions at several universities in Australia and New Zealand.

The 2019 award ceremony was held at the British Accounting and Finance Association annual conference at the University of Birmingham with over 350 academics from the accounting and finance world in attendance to see Professor Brennan accept her award.

Established in 1947, the British Accounting and Finance Association (BAFA) is a learned society and research organisation dedicated to the advancement of knowledge and understanding of accounting, finance and financial management. With over 750 members, the organisation offers a strong academic network that allows for collegial feedback with the objective for members to publish articles in leading journals, researchers to identify shared interests for collaboration, and the support of doctoral students.

As part of the awardee’s responsibilities, Dr Brennan will present the plenary address at the 2020 annual meeting and after peer review, her research will be published in the British Accounting Review.

At the ceremony, award recipient Professor Niamh Brennan, said: “I am honoured to have been named as the 2018 British Accounting and Finance Association Distinguished Academic. I thank my colleagues for recognising my research and contribution in this way. I am humbled to be included with the previous 24 BAFA Distinguished Academic scholars.”

Professor Stuart McLeay of the University of Sydney delivered the citation, having hugely influenced Professor Brennan’s career, especially in the early years.

On presenting the award, Professor Lisa Jack, Professor in Accounting and Financial Management at Portsmouth University and President of BAFA, said: "Professor Niamh Brennan was selected for the award for her distinctive contribution to the accounting literature on corporate governance, the impact of her work with accounting practice and government regulation, and her wonderful support of doctoral and early career researchers at the British Accounting and Finance Association conferences. She is one of the few academics who successfully bridges research, media and practice in her work and this is largely due to the clarity and depth of her writing and speaking, which is indeed distinguished in our field. We are very much looking forward to her Distinguished Academic Lecture at the conference in 2020".