Landsman awarded honorary degree from Romanian university

Wayne Landsman (above, second from left), the KPMG Distinguished Professor of Accounting at UNC Kenan-Flagler Business School, received the title of Doctor Honoris Causa (DHC) from the Babeș-Bolyai University (UBB) in Cluj-Napoca, Romania.

The DHC, the highest honor awarded by European universities, recognizes academic achievements and notable intellectual contributions to cultural, social and scientific life.

Previous recipients of UBB’s DHC include former German Chancellor Angela Merkel, King Charles III and Nobel laureates in medicine, the natural sciences and economics.

Landsman (center) receives his DHC honor from Professor Daniel David, UBB rector (left) and Professor Florin Streteanu, UBB Senate president.

“It is a great honor and distinct privilege to be recognized by the distinguished faculty of the Babeș-Bolyai University and the entire community of this university,” Landsman said during his acceptance speech. “Such an honor is truly humbling because it puts me in the company of others who are eminent scholars, scientists and contributors to society who have been recognized before me.”

Landsman, a world-leading accounting scholar, developed the first faculty and student exchange agreement between UBB and UNC Kenan-Flagler in 2016. For nearly a decade, he has worked closely with UNC Global Affairs to establish graduate student exchange programs linking UNC Kenan-Flagler to institutions in the Czech Republic, Portugal, Austria, Slovenia and Germany.

His interest in international scholarly exchanges stems from teaching abroad in 2003. At a colloquium in the Czech Republic, he met a doctoral student from Belgium and invited her to study at UNC Kenan-Flagler. He has since invited numerous international business students to the U.S. for additional educational training.

Landsman has taught doctoral-level business courses at schools in the U.K., Denmark, Austria and Germany.

“From now on, Professor Landsman will be a member of the academic community of Babeș-Bolyai University,” Răzvan V. Mustață, dean of UBB’s Faculty of Economics and Business Administration, wrote in a LinkedIn post. “It is a great honor for us and the highest recognition of the partnership between Babeș-Bolyai University and the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.”

Landsman’s research focuses on accounting information’s role in capital price formation and teaches courses on financial reporting and financial accounting. He was chair of the School’s accounting area from 1991 to 1998 and served as the PhD Program’s associate dean from 2001 to 2016.

He received the American Accounting Association Outstanding Educator Award in 2014 and has published more than 70 articles in scholarly journals, many of which have received honors. He earned a PhD, MBA and a master’s in statistics from Stanford University and a bachelor’s in economics from Princeton University.

Landsman enjoys working with colleagues at UBB and looks forward to extending scholarly ties between UNC and UBB to academic departments and schools beyond the two universities’ business schools.

“Collaboration with international universities not only brings tremendous intellectual and cultural benefits to UNC faculty and students but is also deeply rewarding,” he said.