Victor Dobbin - Curriculum Vitae

VICTOR DOBBIN

CB, MBE, MA, MTh, PhD, DD

Victor Dobbin retired from the British Army in 2000 having been Chaplain General (Major General) for a period of five and a half years. It was during his years as Chaplain General that he became interested in the development of one aspect of Army Doctrine - “The Moral Component of Fighting Power” and was involved with the introduction of a mandatory package of training on values for military personnel called “Moral Understanding.”

 

On leaving the Army he was awarded a Churchill Fellowship that enabled him to travel to the United States of America as well as to Holland and Germany to study and examine how ethics is being developed and taught within the Professions in these countries. Harvard University, Notre Dame University, Calvin College, Georgetown University as well as Tubingin in Germany and Nyenrode in Holland were included in the itinerary.

 

Since then he has established a charity on Leadership and Ethics. In his capacity as Director of this charity, he has been working closely with the Military as well as with the Police Services in different parts of Europe. In addition to organising conferences on “Ethics” for European Armed Forces, he has also lectured at international military conferences in Switzerland, South Korea and Sri Lanka.

 

The following are some of his engagements relating to Leadership and Ethics:

 

Business and University

Lectured on the MBA (Master of Business Administration) course at Queen’s University, Belfast.  

  • Oct 2004: “Instilling values through Leadership – Values-driven Leadership”;

  • Oct 2004: “Business Ethics”;

  • Feb 2006: Conducted a three-day module on Leadership;

  • Feb 2010: Conducted a three-day module on Business Ethics.

The University of Ulster: Served as a member of the Research Ethics Committee 2004 - 2006.

 

Military

  • 29th June 2004: Brigade Commander’s Study Day - 8Bde (Ballykelly) - Lecture on Military Ethics.

  • 2nd Nov 2004: General Officer Commanding, Northern Ireland - Study Day Lecture on “Values and Standards for the Army of 2010”.

  • 14 - 18th Sept 2004: International Conference in South Korea. Lecture on “Military Leadership and Religion”.

  • 28th Oct 2004: 2 Div Chaplains Conference, Armed Forces Chaplaincy Centre, Amport. Lecture on “Leadership and Values”.

  • 14th -19th April 2005: Military Conference in Sri Lanka. Two lectures on Military ethics and Leadership.

  • 5th -7th Feb. 2006: Lecturer on Military ethics and Leadership at a conference in Salisbury, Sarum College, for ACCTS MMI.

  • 4-6 Oct 2006: Shared in a joint presentation of a paper at a Military Conference held in Amsterdam on the theme, “The Moral Dimension of Asymmetrical Warfare”.

  • Sept 2007: Delivered a lecture on Military Ethics in Germany to over 120 British Army Officers prior to their departure to Afghanistan.

  • Sept. 21st 2009 Keynote speaker at Baeksoek University’s first academic symposium on Military ethics.

  • Oct. 22nd 2009 Delivered a lecture on ‘Military Ethics’ at the Defence University in Bucharest.

  • Nov.6th 2009 Guest lecturer on Military Ethics at the Defence University, Budapest.

  • May 7th 2010 Guest lecturer at Commander’s Study Day in Lisburn, N. Ireland. Military Ethics.

Police

He is presently a member of the Learning Advisory Council of the Police Service of Northern Ireland and together with a colleague has been researching and developing programmes on Police Ethics.

Also he is associate Tutor for the Leadership Academy for Policing at Bramshill, England.

  • April 2003: Designed a conference programme for Centrex on “Developing and Sustaining a Reputation of Trust”. The Conference, held in Slovenia, was attended by Police Officers from the then ten Accession Countries to the European Union. Delivered 11 lectures at this conference and held two workshops.

  • November 2003: Lectured and acted as Moderator for an afternoon session on Police Ethics at a conference organised by the Council of Europe in Riga, Latvia.

  • June 2004: Gave three lectures on Police Ethics at a conference organised by CEPOL in Budapest. Those who attended were from the West Balkan States.

  • October 2006 – June 2007: Engaged as an expert in ‘professional police ethics’ in Ankara with a colleague on the ethics component of a major programme designed to enhance the professionalism of the Turkish Gendarmerie in its law enforcement activities. The programme of activity has involved scoping the existing ethics text books and training curricula in use within the Gendarmerie, researching national, European and international materials on the subject of professional police ethics, delivery of lectures on the subject and the formulation of a draft Code of Ethics for the Gendarmerie.

  • April 2007/May 2007 delivered four lectures on Leadership and Ethics at each of these two Conferences in Moscow sponsored by the Council of Europe for senior Law Enforcement Officers. The aim was to emphasise the importance given by the Council of Europe to Leadership, Ethics and Human Rights as they impact on policing.

  • March 8-12 2010 lecturer at conference on Human Rights and Ethics organised by NI-CO for Security Guard Officers.

  • March 18-19, 2010. Chairman and lecturer at Seminar on Management and Police Ethics held in Antalya, Turkey for senior officers of the National Police Force.

He holds an MA Degree from Trinity College Dublin as well as the MTh and PhD degrees from Queens University Belfast. In 1995 he was awarded the Honorary Degree of Doctor of Theology by the Presbyterian Theological Faculty in Ireland.

 

In 1980 he was made a Member of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire MBE and in the year 2000 was made Companion of the Most Excellent Order of the Bath CB.

 

He is married to Rosemary and they have two married children and five grandchildren. His hobbies include golf, walking and reading.