English professor takes top Champagne job

Published: 23 July, 2008

An English-born academic has been appointed the inaugural Professor of Champagne Management at one of France's leading business schools.

Master of Wine Dr Stephen Charters, 49, will join Reims Management School (RMS) this month after eight years at Perth's Edith Cowan University (ECU), where he was senior lecturer in wine marketing and wine studies.

In his new role, Dr Charters, who has been based in Australia since the early 1990s, will be responsible for developing a 2007 summer school as well as research activities and specialist courses at masters, MBA and executive education level.

He will also work closely with the houses of Mot & Chandon, Veuve Clicquot, Ruinart, Krug, Laurent-Perrier, Nicolas Feuillatte and Pommery which, along with the CIVC, funded the 250,000-a-year (165,000) position.

Dr Charters, a qualified solicitor and Oxford University graduate, is a recognised expert in wine marketing. Apart from his academic work, he has judged in wine shows, helped prepare Western Australia's wine tourism strategy and contributed to wine books and magazines in Australia and the UK. His PhD thesis on wine quality and a research project on the differences in the way professionals and amateurs perceive wine quality were key to his heading RMS's inaugural Champagne Chair.

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