Programs at the Melbourne Graduate School of Management are taught by leading researchers and award-winning teachers, many of whom have international reputations for the breadth and depth of their expertise, their contributions to research, their teaching skills, and their work with business, government, and other organisations and institutions.
Our research students enjoy the support of expert supervisors and academics; and students within the practitioner programs will find Faculty members who possess a distinctive blend of academic expertise and practical application.
We cannot introduce all of our staff members, but here are some of the key academic leaders at the Melbourne GSM.
 |
Professor Margaret Abernethy
Dean, Melbourne Graduate School of Management and Faculty of Economics and Commerce
Professor Margaret Abernethy is Dean of the Faculty of Economics and Commerce and holds the Chair in Managerial Accounting at the University of Melbourne. Professor Abernethy is recognised as a leader in the field for her research relating to the financial management of public sector organisations (in particular, hospital management). She has published in the top tier international journals during her academic career and attracted research grants in excess of $1 million. She was editor of Accounting and Finance, the journal of the Accounting Association of Australia and New Zealand, and is on the editorial board of seven other key international journals.
Professor Abernethy has taught across a range of subjects at the undergraduate and postgraduate level and has been recognised for her excellence in teaching Australia-wide. Her major contribution in recent years has been in the supervision of research higher degree students, all of whom have gone on to become successful in either academia or industry.
Professor Abernethy has also consulted widely on issues relating to costing, budgeting and performance management, and has been involved in numerous executive training programs in both the service and manufacturing industries. |
 |
Professor Gregory Whitwell BEc Monash, PhD Melbourne
Associate Dean (Academic Programs)
Greg Whitwell is a Professor of Marketing and Associate Dean (Academic Programs). He is the author of four books and over 40 refereed articles and published conference papers. He is a recipient of the Academy of the Social Sciences Medal, an award for excellence in scholarship. His main research interests are in the areas of strategic marketing and international marketing.
Greg has a close association with the Université de Lyon III, France where he has been a visiting professor of marketing at the Institut d’Administration des Entreprises on four occasions. He also worked for two years on secondment with the Australian Wheat Board.
|
 |
Professor Nasser Spear BEc(Acct) Syria, MS(Acct), PhD N Texas, FCPA, CMA
Program Director, Master of Management
Professor Spear received his PhD from the University of North Texas in 1992, and currently holds the G.L.Wood Chair of Accounting. He is a Fellow Certified Practicing Accountant and a Certified Management Accountant.
Nasser has published in the area of financial reporting in leading international academic journals such as the Journal of Accounting and Economics, Contemporary Accounting Research, Journal of Accounting Literature, International Journal of Accounting, Journal of Business Finance and Accounting, and Management and Information Technology. Professor Spear is a Co-Editor of the International Journal of Accounting and serves on the editorial board of a number of academic journals.
|
 |
Associate Professor Michael Davern BCom (Hons) Tasmania, PhD Minnesota
Program Director, Master of Business and IT
Michael Davern joined the University of Melbourne as Associate Professor in Business Information Systems in 2002 from the Stern School of Business, New York University. His research is in the area of behavioural and business process aspects of information valuation and use, decision technologies and human-computer interaction. A focus of Michael’s research has been in the hospitality and travel industry where he maintains several ongoing corporate relationships. His research has led to invited presentations in six countries, as well as at international conferences and articles in academic publications. Prior to entering academia Michael had appointments at PricewaterhouseCoopers and Comalco Ltd.
|
 |
Associate Professor Matthew Pinnuck BCom (Hons), PhD Melb
Deputy Director, Master of Management
Matt Pinnuck is an Associate Professor who teaches in the undergraduate and postgraduate Financial Accounting programs of the Department of Accounting & Business Information Systems. His research interests focuses on the use of financial accounting information by the capital market. Prior to joining academia he worked as a Chartered Accountant in the Melbourne, Chicago and Moscow offices of KPMG.
|
 |
Dr Christopher Skeels BEc (Hons), PhD Monash
Program Director, Graduate Programs in Economics
Chris Skeels was awarded a PhD by Monash University in 1989. His previous appointments were at the Australian National University as first lecturer and then senior lecturer in econometrics. He has also held visiting positions at the University of British Columbia, the University of Warwick and Duke University.
His main research interests involve theoretical econometrics; specifically, the development of finite sample theory in simultaneous equations models and inference in microeconometric models. More recently he has also made empirical contributions in the areas of health economics and finance. In 1997 he received a Multa Scripsit Award for Contributions to Econometric Theory. Chris joined the Department of Economics at the University of Melbourne as a senior lecturer in 2002.
|
 |
Associate Professor John Handley BCom, BMath Newc, MCom(Hons), PhD Melb, ASIA
co-Director Finance Professional Programs
John Handley teaches in various corporate finance, investment and derivatives subjects at both undergraduate and postgraduate levels. His research focus is in corporate finance, derivative pricing and corporate finance applications of derivative pricing. He has published in leading Australian and international journals and the Harvard Business School Case Collection. Before joining the University in 1993, John spent five years in the corporate finance team of an international investment bank. He has acted as a consultant to a range of bodies including the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission and KPMG Corporate Finance.
|
 |
Associate Professor Greg Schwann BA (Hons) Queens, MA (Ec), PhD UBC
Coordinator, Finance Research Higher Degrees
Greg Schwann received his PhD in Economics from the University of British Columbia in 1987. His thesis was titled Housing Demand: An Empirical Intertemporal Model. He has taught at the University of British Columbia, the University of Saskatchewan and at the Haas School of Business at the University of California at Berkeley. From 1991 to 1996, Greg was Assistant Professor at the Lusk Centre for Real Estate Development at the University of Southern California. Prior to joining the University of Melbourne he was at the University of Auckland.
|
 |
Dr Sean Pinder BCom (Hons) Monash, PhD Newc, AAIBF (Snr)
co-Director, Finance Professional Programs
Sean Pinder was appointed to his current position in 2001. Sean lectured at both the undergraduate and postgraduate levels in the Department of Accounting and Finance at the University of Newcastle and prior to that at Monash University. Sean has also taught at the postgraduate level at Lancaster University in England and has undertaken a range of consulting activities for firms operating in both the domestic and international marketplace. He has developed and delivered professional short-courses for major Australian and overseas companies. Sean has a well-developed research profile, and his work has appeared in leading Australian and international journals. Sean is a Senior Associate of the Australasian Institute of Banking and Finance. In 2007 he was awarded the Pearson Accounting and Finance Lecturer of the Year Award.
|
 |
Dr Ying Zhu BEc Peking; PhD Melb
Program Director, Master of Human Resource Management and Graduate Diploma in Management Studies
Ying Zhu conducts research in the areas of international human resource management, business cultures, economic development and employment relations with a focus on East Asia. His recent research projects have covered effective repatriate management and the impact of economic reform on management-labour relations in China and Vietnam.
Ying is Program Director for the Master of HRM and the Graduate Diploma in Management studies, and his teaching focuses on international HRM. In the classroom, Dr Zhu provides both empirical and theoretical knowledge based on his corporate work experience and his research activities in East Asia. His subjects are designed to link academic content with practical needs. His goal is to demonstrate that HR managers are more effective when they understand the connections between societal transformation and firm-level management.
|
 |
Professor David Merrett BEc (Hons), MEc Monash
Program Director,
Master of International Business
David Merrett is Professor of Management and has led the development of the MIB as Program Director, since its inception in 1996. David has written or edited more than 100 scholarly publications including six books, the most recent of which is co-edited with Howard Dick and concerns offshore investment by Australian firms. His research is focused on business history and international business topics including the internationalisation of large Australian enterprises.
He also sits on the editorial advisory boards of three leading journals in business and economic history. |