UC tax expert awarded top Australian fellowship

Professor Adrian Sawyer (Accounting and Information Systems) has become the first UC academic to be awarded a prestigious research fellowship to Atax, part of the Law School at the University of New South Wales.

Professor Sawyer will leave in late August to take up the fellowship at the premier academic tax group in Australasia. He will spend six weeks researching the financial disclosures of banks, with a focus on tax matters.

“I will also be working with a staff member at Atax examining directors’ duties with respect to taxation issues and will present a seminar on my work regarding the bank financial disclosures issues.”

He said he was excited about the fellowship as the positions were highly sought after. “I know how competitive the process is in terms of securing a fellowship and the calibre of previous recipients.

“This is an excellent opportunity to devote time to areas of research that I wish to develop further in an environment that appreciates the value of tax research.

“No one from UC has ever been an Atax Research Fellow that I am aware of, so this is not only a first but an honour for Canterbury in recognising the tax expertise that exists here. To this end I am grateful that my tax colleagues have been agreeable to altering my teaching to fit around the period of the fellowship.”

Professor Sawyer said he was looking forward to working with tax resources unavailable elsewhere in Australasia, and having access to tax colleagues and their years of knowledge and experience.

“I also see this as an opportunity to strengthen relationships between Canterbury and UNSW in relation to tax issues.”

Earlier this year the Department of Accounting and Information Systems hosted a visit by Professor Chris Evans from the University of NSW, a former director of Atax.
Other recent recipients of research fellowships include: Professor William Barker, Pennsylvania State University; Kim Bloomquist, Senior Economist at the Internal Revenue Service; Professor Rebecca Boden, University of Wales; and Professor Gareth Myles, University of Exeter.