Reg Gynther

Citation

Reg Gynther's contribution to accounting came in the aftermath of wartime service and several years in industry and commerce during which time he obtained several professional accounting qualifications. As a later entrant to academia he wasted no time acquiring the qualifications requisite for career progression. Such was his success that he achieved full professorship in the University of Queensland within eight years of receiving his first fulltime appointment. A career defining book emerged from his masters thesis titled Accounting for Price Level Changes: Theory and Procedures. The years following were characterised by a further distillation of his ideas that provided the basis for a long stream of research output that established his reputation internationally as an accounting scholar of considerable importance. In this work he, as a tireless advocate of Current Cost Accounting, expounded the theoretical and practical aspects of accounting for price changes. Paradoxically his doctoral work played no part in the pursuit of his research agenda. Between 1961 and 1967 he produced 27 major articles, attesting to his capacity as a first class thinker and scholar. Reg Gynther was not only a highly regarded scholar but also an innovative administrator. Through his efforts the accounting discipline was formally established within the University of Queensland, the staff base greatly expanded, a high quality honours program instituted and double degrees linking commerce to law introduced for the first time in an Australian university. Having established an international reputation in academia in a relatively short period, Reg Gynther retired from the university in 1977 and was conferred with the title of Emeritus Professor. He returned to the private sector taking a policy-related role as Partner with the then Coopers and Lybrand. With responsibilities for research and professional development he was soon engaged in the debate on price level changes. During the inflation accounting debates of the 1970s and early 1980s he was the face of his firm speaking and writing extensively on the merits of current cost accounting. From 1977 to 1983 he was a member of the Accounting Standards Committee and played an active role in the preparation of the Current Cost Accounting Working Guide. He retired from Coopers in 1985.

The Australian Accounting Hall of Fame honours Reg Gynther as an innovator, educator, standard-setter, scholar and thinker of the highest order.

Biography

1921 - 1999

Reg Gynther left school at the end of his junior year to take a job in industry and enrol as a part-time evening student. Service in the war was followed by a further number of years in industry where he rose to middle-management level. He qualified for membership of the Australasian Institute of Cost Accountants and the Institute of Chartered Accountants in Australia during this period.

A career in academia began when he accepted a part-time lecturership in accounting at the University of Queensland in 1952. Seven years later the first full-time appointment in accountancy at Senior Lecturer level in the Department of Economics was offered. Two years later he was appointed as the foundation Head of the Department of Accounting. He graduated BCom from Queensland in 1962. A professorship without a doctoral qualification was not in prospect at the time and so further plans were made to acquire the credentials necessary for promotion. He enrolled in a Master of Economics at the University of Adelaide submitting his thesis in absentia. Of profound importance for his future work, the masters treatise was written on the choice of index in accounting for price-level changes. This was an extension of an article written earlier in 1962. The degree was awarded in 1964 and a book followed shortly under the title Accounting for Price Level Changes: Theory and Procedures. This was to be a career defining publication. A promotion to a readership followed shortly thereafter at which time the need to complete work at doctoral level became more urgent. An Arthur Andersen and Co. Fellowship facilitated enrolment at the University of Washington. Once in Seattle Gynther completed all of the doctoral requirements after twelve exceptionally full months. His DBA was conferred in 1966. In 1967 he became Queensland's first professor of accounting. As Head of Department he had introduced some initiatives in education including: in the early 1960s an innovative honours year was introduced that concentrated solely on accounting-related subjects, the accounting department expanded considerably under his supervision and the first double degree linking the study of law with commerce was established.

Gynther's scholarly output increased dramatically at this time founded on his masters thesis. Paradoxically the subject of his doctorate was to play no part in his research activities. During this period many of the ideas articulated in the thesis were distilled further forming the basis of a long stream of research output that established his reputation as an accounting scholar of considerable importance internationally. In this work he, as a tireless advocate of Current Cost Accounting, expounded the theoretical and practical aspects of accounting for price changes. Between 1961 and 1967 he produced major 27 articles, attesting to his capacity as a first class thinker and scholar.

Having achieved a great deal in academia in a relatively short period, Reg Gynther retired from academia and returned to the private sector taking a policy-related role as partner with the then Coopers and Lybrand. With responsibilities for research and professional development he was soon re-engaged in the debate on price level changes. During the inflation accounting debates of the 1970s and early 1980s he was the face of his firm speaking and writing extensively on the merits of current cost accounting. From 1977 to 1983 he was a member of the Accounting Standards Committee and played an active role in the preparation of the Current Cost Accounting Working Guide. He retired from Coopers in 1985.

On his retirement from the university in 1977, the title Emeritus Professor was conferred on him. A Biannual Invited Lecture at the University of Queensland Business School is named in his honour.