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PricewaterhouseCoopers, professor of accounting, University of Reading, UK

After qualifying in 1974, Christopher Nobes continued to work in the financial services industry for a further year, as head of internal audit at Hambro Life Assurance.

He soon reached the conclusion, however, that his true vocation lay in academia. He then spent several years lecturing in accounting and writing a PhD thesis at the University of Exeter (England) before accepting a professorship at the University of Strathclyde (Glasgow, Scotland) in 1982.

Christopher's next major career move came when he took up his current post at the University of Reading (England) in 1987, though he has in the meantime held visiting professorships in such exotic locations as San Diego, Sydney, Barcelona and Venice.

'ACCA has done a great deal for me. My first opportunity to deliver seminars for company accountants came from ACCA - I now give numerous seminars for various organisations and accountancy bodies.'

In addition to teaching, Christopher has been joint editor of Accounting and Business Research and a member of the editorial boards of six journalsin Australia, the US and Europe. He has also published 20 books, either as author or co-author, including Comparative International Accounting (now in eighth edition) and four research reports for ACCA.

His career in public life has led to his appointment to prominent roles in a number of standard-setting bodies. In the late 1980s he was a member of the Accounting Standards Committee of the UK and Ireland and from 1993 to 2001, the UK representative on the Board of the International Accounting Standards Committee. 'I have gained great experience from standard setting and other committees.'