Robert Knechel receives third honorary doctorate

W. Robert Knechel, Distinguished Professor and Frederick E. Fisher Eminent Scholar in the University of Florida Fisher School of Accounting, is the recipient of an honorary doctorate from Aalto University in Finland. At a ceremony in May 2026, Knechel will receive the award in recognition of his status as a significant societal influencer who is highly accomplished in his field. 

With this honor from Aalto University, Knechel will receive his third honorary doctorate, highlighting his significant impact on the field of accounting. He received an honorary doctorate from the Netherlands’ Nyenrode University from 2021 and from Norway’s BI Norwegian Business School in 2018. 

“I am honored to be recognized by a truly elite university,” Knechel said. “Many people may not realize that Aalto University is the successor to the famous Helsinki School of Economics, a truly unique and globally respected institution. To be honored by such an esteemed university is a humbling experience.”

Knechel will receive the honorary doctorate alongside several other academics from MIT, the University of Pennsylvania and Temple University, as well as European business leaders and the president of Finland. The prestigious recognition from Aalto’s School of Business is only given out once every five years. 

Knechel has been a faculty member at the Fisher School for 45 years, his first academic job after earning his Ph.D. from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill in 1981. In addition to teaching master’s students at the University of Florida and leading the International Accounting and Auditing Center, Knechel regularly travels the world sharing his insights at conferences and in consultation with auditing firms and regulators. 

In addition to his faculty role at the University of Florida, Knechel has served as a research professor at the University of Auckland and a visiting professor at KU Leuven. He has twice been honored as a University of Florida Research Professor in 2015 and 2020 for his distinguished record of research and strong research agenda.

He is one of 13 Warrington faculty named among the top 2% of most influential scientists in the world by Stanford University and academic publishing company Elsevier. According to the list, Knechel has a career impact above the 98.9th percentile in the field of accounting. In 2024, his scholarly impact was above the 99.2nd percentile.

Knechel’s research focuses on assurance, control, performance measurement and auditing. His papers have been published in several top accounting and auditing journals including the Journal of Accounting Research, The Accounting Review, The International Journal of Auditing and Auditing: A Journal of Practice & Theory. He previously served as the Senior Editor of The Accounting Review and is the founding editor of Accountability in a Sustainable World Quarterly.