Tenth award for Huddersfield Business School professor

Business Professor John Anchor receives his award from the Technical University of Liberec

WITHIN a month of receiving his previous award, a Business School professor has been presented with a tenth award, again from a Central European university. 

Dr John Anchor is the Professor of International Strategy and also Associate Dean (International) in the University of Huddersfield Business School and he received the latest Gold Medal from Technical University of Liberec in the Czech Republic.

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Professor John Anchor received his award from the Rector of the Technical University of Liberec, Professor Zdenek Kus, and was the only guest to receive a special Gold Medal.

The ceremony took place at a special meeting of the Scientific Board of the Faculty of Economics, which had been convened to celebrate its 25th anniversary.  The event was attended by a number of dignitaries from other Czech universities, as well as by the Faculty’s business partners, the Faculty’s Deans Emeritus and by some of its international partners.

Professor Anchor was given the award “in appreciation of his extraordinary contributions to the development of the university, science, culture, education and academic freedom”.  

Huddersfield’s links with the Technical University date back to early collaboration in Textiles in the 1970s.  Later in one of the outcomes was to set up an institution building, funded by the EU’s TEMPUS Project, to support the development of an Economics Faculty (Business School).  Subsequently, the Huddersfield Business School partnered Liberec’s Faculty of Economics in a number of TEMPUS mobility and curriculum development projects, and Professor Anchor was a participant in one of these, which ran from 1997-1999.  

I am delighted to have received the Rector’s special Gold Medal in recognition of the close relationship which has been established as a result of the foresight and hard work of a number of colleagues during the past 25 years.

John Anchor

Says Professor Anchor: “In May 2004, the Czech Republic, along with seven other countries, joined the European Union and I recognised that this might make it possible to recruit students from the former communist countries of Central and Eastern Europe.  In September 2004, we received our first Bachelor, Top-Up students from Liberec.

“Since 2004, we have received approximately 150 students from Liberec and from the Czech Republic, which is quite a small country, with a population of just 10.5 million, we have received nearly 500 students.  The students have been very successful academically with most achieving ‘good’ degrees.”

Professor Anchor has received nine other awards from Central European universities, however, he is particularly proud of his latest.  “Liberec is our oldest Czech partner and therefore the University’s special resolution to grant this honour is one of the highlights of my career.