Remembering Kevin Simpkins
The news that our colleague, Adjunct Professor Kevin Simpkins, passed away over Labour weekend, was met with immense sadness amongst staff and students of the School.
The news that our colleague, Adjunct Professor Kevin Simpkins, passed away over Labour weekend, was met with immense sadness amongst staff and students of the School. Kevin suffered a fatal heart attack while walking with friends on Saturday, 24 October.
Kevin joined the School in early 2007 following a distinguished career. He was previously Deputy Controller and Auditor-General, a former Technical Director of the New Zealand Institute of Chartered Accountants, and National Director of Accounting at Ernst & Young New Zealand. He was also Deputy Chair of the Financial Reporting Standards Board, and Technical Advisor and member of the International Public Sector Accounting Standards Board. In March 2009, he was appointed Chairman of the Accounting Standards Review Board and was the inaugural Chairman of the External Reporting Board from July 2011 to February 2014. Kevin was very highly regarded by the accounting profession worldwide. He was awarded the American Express Outstanding Service to the Profession Award at the New Zealand Institute of Chartered Accountants Leadership Awards in 2011. He was a former member and past Chair of the Trans-Tasman Accounting and Auditing Standards Advisory Group, and a member of the Australian Financial Reporting Council from 2009 to 2014.
Kevin was an outstanding teacher. Recently, he was the ACCY 111 - Accounting, Course Coordinator and Lecturer and Course Coordinator for ACCY 308 - Advanced Financial Accounting. He was also a successful teacher on the MBA programme.
Kevin was a person of great integrity and kind heart. He will be remembered for his warm, gentle and open manner, for his generosity, so giving with his time with every person he met, and especially with his students. He gave an outstanding contribution to the Centre for Accounting, Governance and Taxation Research for over 14 years, five as a member of its Advisory Board and the remaining years as a member of the profession and a staff member of SACL.
We are all deeply saddened at the loss of our treasured colleague.
Kevin was a loyal Hurricanes and All Blacks supporter, an accomplished choral singer and deeply involved with volunteer organisations and the not-for-profit sector.
Kevin is survived by his wife, Joanne, and his two daughters Lauren and Jemma.