IN THE accounting world, it was like a boy from Hawkesdale winning Wimbledon.
The University of Ballarat's Professor Brian West, who grew up in Hawkesdale, has won the 2008 Notable Contribution to Accounting Literature Award.
He was given the prize by the American Accounting Association for his book, Professionalism and Accounting Rules.
Now, if you were not an accountant, that might not sound like much.
But considering in its four decade history the award has rarely been won by anyone outside the United States, and by just one Australian - in 1966 - it is a big achievement.
"To win this award the odds are pretty slim, because the only criterion of eligibility it that its been published in the last five years,'' Prof West said.
"If you think of how many accounting publications accrue over a five year period, it's thousands.
"To have mine picked out from that volume, it's pretty special.''
Professor West's book argues accounting has developed more and more regulations to cover for a lack of sound first principles.
"The conventional wisdom is the more regulation we've got the better. My book takes a different view on this.''
He said accounting education was often more about learning the rule book rather than the discipline's academic foundations.
Professor West has taught at the university for over 20 years.