Finance has been a pivotal part of Durham University since the creation of our Business School. Indeed, in the mid-1960s three of the earliest business schools in the UK were created, London Business School (c. 1964); what is now the Alliance Manchester Business School (c. 1965); and of course Durham University Business School (c. 1965). At the time, the need for a finance education as part of a business school curriculum was a new concept. Durham was one of the first places to teach finance as a unique subject — distinct from our sibling disciplines of accounting and economics. 

Since that time our subject area of finance has grown into the amazingly diverse area that is inherently reflective of times we live in. Today we feel the impact of education and research in areas such as Financial Technologies and Financial Engineering; understand a deeper context into the nature of organisations, capital, decision making and investment in Corporate Finance and Banking; value the risks that we face every day as we buy Insurance; and then understand how we finance the infrastructure that will hopefully mitigate the effects of climate change in Green Finance. No aspect of our daily experience is without reference to finance, it is a part of our lives and it connects us to the wider world: for some, it is a source of great worry, for others an expression of freedom. However, we feel we cannot ignore it and ensuring equality of access to financial services and fairness in how we experience the financial world are core to our values. 

Whilst the creation of the Department of Finance as a separate department took place in 2022, finance has been at the heart of Durham University Business School since its inception. For many years we have been one of the largest concentrations of research and teaching dedicated to the study of finance in the world. In 1965, we led the way in research and teaching in business, accounting, finance, economics and management, and 57 years later we are still leaders, still curious and passionate about our subject.