Barrie Pettman

Barrie Owen Pettman, Baron of Bombie (born 1944) is a British author, publisher, and philanthropist. He is the co-founder and chairman emeritus of Emerald Group Publishing. A professor emeritus at the University of Hull, he is the author of a dozen books on industrial relations. He is president emeritus of Burke's Peerage and a patron of opera in England and New Zealand.

Early life

Pettman was born on 22 February 1944. He received a Bachelor of Science from the University of Hull, followed by a Master of Science, a Masters in Business Administration, and a doctorate from the Cass Business School.

Career

In 1967, Pettman co-founded Emerald Group Publishing, a publisher of academic journals and books, and served as its chairman. He became a multi-millionaire as a result.

He was a lecturer in industrial relations in the Department of Social Administration of his alma mater, the University of Hull, from 1970 to 1982. He has been a professor of human resources at the International Management Centres since 1982 and registrar since 1983. He was director of the Manpower Unit at the University of Rhodesia in Southern Rhodesia from 1978 to 1979. He has also been a Visiting Professor at the Canadian School of Management. He founded the International Institute of Social Economics, and he was a member of the Manpower Society from 1977 to 1991. He is a Fellow of the Chartered Management Institute.

Pettman was the editor of several academic journals, most of which were published by Emerald Group Publishing. He was the editor of the International Journal of Social Economics from 1973 to 1979, the International Journal of Manpower from 1980 to 1984, Management Research News from 1981 to 2005, Equal Opportunities International from 1981 to 2005, the International Journal of Sociology and Social Policy from 1984 to 2005, the International Journal of New Ideas from 1992 to 1998, and Managerial Law from 1975 to 2005. He was also the assistant editor of Employee Relations from 1978 to 1982 and assistant editor of Archives of Economic History.

Pettman is president emeritus of Burke's Peerage. In 2005, he published the first Yorkshire edition of Burke's Peerage and Gentry. His aim was to undo what he saw as a Southern bias in Burke's Peerage. Besides listing members of the landed gentry, he added lawyers as well as powerbrokers in showbusiness and the media, arguing that they were equally prominent.

In 1999, he became the Baron of Bombie, Kirkcudbrightshire, Scotland after he purchased the title from Sir David Hope-Dunbar of the Hope-Dunbar baronets and the defunct insurance firm Allied Dunbar. He is a member of the Reform Club and the Royal Over-Seas League. He is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts.

Political affiliations

In 2014, Pettman donated £500,000 to the Conservative Party. As a result, he is one of their top 20 donors as of February 2015.

Philanthropy

Pettman has endowed a £20,000 fellowship for graduate students from New Zealand at his alma mater, the Cass Business School in London, which lists him and his wife as "major donors".

With his wife, he established in 2010 the Pettman Dare Scholarship at the Dare Foundation, a non-profit organization which supports Opera Studies at the University of Leeds in collaboration with Opera North. In 2014, they extended their commitment up to 2020. Additionally, they have made charitable gifts to Opera North, the Buxton Festival, and the East Riding of Yorkshire Choir in England.

They also established the Pettman National Junior Academy of Music at the University of Auckland in New Zealand. In 2011, they agreed to donate £1 million over the next five years to the Pettman Junior Academy at the University of Canterbury in Christchurch, New Zealand. Two years later, in 2013, the Academy was split from the university at their request. Additionally, they have donated to the Lazarus String Quartet and the 2015 International Akaora Music Festival.

Personal life

Pettman is married to Maureen Pettman, Lady of Bombie. They reside in East Yorkshire and, in winter, in Akaroa, New Zealand.