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Wednesday, 2 March 2011

I would like to welcome new and returning students and staff to the Business School for 2011. The start of a new academic year always brings a sense of energy and enthusiasm and our building is abuzz with activity. I look forward to another year of outstanding achievement as we have many exciting projects in the pipeline.

UWA Business School students made their mark on the world in 2010 through their academic results and their community contributions. For the second time, our students were the global winners of the Google Online Marketing Challenge, travelling  to Google headquarters in California as part of their prize. Our Students in Free Enterprise (SIFE) team won the Qantas SIFE Australia Championship for the third year in a row and represented Australia in the Global Championships held in Los Angeles. For the second time, a UWA student won the Reserve Bank of Australia essay competition. These high-profile achievements are representative of the talent and commitment that many of our students invest in numerous high-impact volunteering and entrepreneurship opportunities, and all of us at the Business School are extremely proud of their efforts.

In 2011, we will continue to build on this community engagement with the appointment of Winthrop Professor Paul Flatau as the Chair and Director of the Centre for Social Impact (CSI) at UWA, and the introduction of the Graduate Certificate in Social Impact. The certificate will equip executives and community leaders with the tools to build sustainable communities and enterprises. The certificate's four units will also be available as Master of Commerce and Master of Business Administration (MBA) electives.

Our series of public lectures and Visiting Professorships, which play a critical role in encouraging discussion and debate regarding topical business issues throughout the broader business community, will continue throughout 2011. The first Breakfast by the Bay for the year kicked off on 16 February with a presentation by KPMG partner and demographer Bernard Salt.

Several major Australian Research Council (ARC) funded projects headed up by UWA Business School researchers will get underway during 2011. Areas of focus include the role of electronic communication in remote workplaces, the methods by which personal values can be measured across cultures, the implications of India's economic growth, and the most effective ways of encouraging households to save energy.

We welcome several new faculty members. Winthrop Professor Richard Heaney, Professor Paul Gerrans, Professor Sirimon Treepangkaruna and Associate Professor Inderpal Singh have all joined us and will be contributing to both teaching and research in their respective areas of expertise within the Accounting and Finance discipline. In the Marketing discipline, we also welcome Assistant Professor Greg Brush, a former UWA PhD student who returns to us after spending several years in New Zealand.

Finally, on a personal note, I have announced that I will be stepping down from the role of Dean in August. It has been a privilege to work with everyone at the Business School and University, and this early announcement will allow us to ensure a smooth transition. In the meantime, I look forward to continuing to work with staff, students and visitors over the year as we work towards another year of milestones for the UWA Business School.

Winthrop Professor Tracey Horton
Dean, UWA Business School

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