DCU Educational Trust

Board of Trustees

	Larry Quinn Larry has been a trustee of the Trust since 2004 and was appointed Chairman in November of 2009. He was one of the founders of Aldiscon, a recognised innovator in supplying software products to the mobile communications industry, and is a wireless communications industry expert with over 25 years of international management experience. He currently serves as Chairman on the Boards of two globally focused communication technology companies - Acision and Accuris Networks. In addition, he led Atlantic Bridge's £265 million buyout of Acision, formerly Logicas Telecoms Product Division, in 2007. Larry holds various non-executive Board seats and is a private investor in a number of other technology companies, including Altion, Ammeon and Interactive Services. Larry is a Chartered Engineer and holds an Honours Degree in Engineering from University College Dublin. Back to top
	Brian MacCraith Professor Brian MacCraith received his B.Sc and PhD in physics at NUI, Galway. He joined the staff of Dublin City University in 1986, establishing the Optical Sensors Laboratory. In October 1999, he became founding Director of the National Centre for Sensor Research at DCU and in 2005 was appointed Director of the Biomedical Diagnostics Institute, an Academic-Industrial-Clinical partnership, after receiving the largest award in the history of the Irish state for scientific research. Professor MacCraith has served as a Visiting Scientist at the Naval Research Laboratory in Washington, DC, was granted a Fellowship of the Institute of Physics, is a previous winner of the Mallin Invent Award for innovation, and in 2007, was elected to membership of the Royal Irish Academy. Professor MacCraith was appointed President of Dublin City University on 13 July 2010.Back to top
	Michael Bennett Michael Bennett is the driving force behind The Bennett Hospitality Company, LLC, located in Historic Charleston, South Carolina, USA. Through his leadership, vision & foresight, this company has renovated and developed in excess of $500,000,000.00 of real estate. As a native Charlestonian, Mike believes strongly in the future development and vitality of his hometown, as well as in the projects he develops beyond. Bennett Hospitality has developed and currently owns twelve Hilton & Marriott Hotels located in Charleston, South Carolina; Savannah, Georgia; Marathon, Florida; Bozeman, Montana; and Billings, Montana. In addition to these great hotels, Mike has developed, renovated and/or owned numerous shopping centers, apartment complexes, office buildings, homes, parking garages, and high-end resort developments, just to name a few. Outside of the office, Mike has been married for over 19 years and together with his wife, Amy, has two great sons, Jack and Brennan, with whom he enjoys baseball, sport fishing, traveling and hunting, among many other activities. Back to top
	Patrick Brazel Pat joined the Board in January 2008 and brings over 25 years of experience working in the international financial software industry. Pat is also currently Chairman of GoldTier Technologies and a member of the boards of First Derivatives plc and Brady plc. He holds a Masters in Management Science from Trinity College, Dublin and is a trustee of the Dublin City University Educational Trust. Back to top
	Peter Conlon Peter is co-founder and CEO of ammado, headquartered in Dublin, is a global online donation platform connecting individuals, nonprofit organizations and socially responsible companies from over 130 countries in a meaningful and interactive environment. ammado has been honored with many awards including the Irish Software Association New Company of the Year Award, and has been listed as one of the Red Herring Top 100 privately held Technology Companies in Europe both in 2008 and 2009. Before co-founding ammado, Peter founded Xsil Limited in 2000 and continued to serve as its Chief Executive Officer and Chairperson until 2007. Previously, Peter served as Chairman and CEO of MV Technology Limited, a self funded company which he founded in 1996 and sold to Agilent Technologies (www.agilent.com) in March 2001 for in excess of €100Mio. Before concentrating on his entrepreneurial career, Peter worked for the Industrial Development Authority of Ireland and with Ernst & Young, specialising in corporate and international taxation and accounting. Peter was educated at the Dublin Institute of Technology, the Honourable Society of King’s Inns and the Stanford Graduate School of Business. He holds a DBS in Business Studies; is a Barrister at Law; a Fellow of the Chartered Association of Certified Accountants; Member of the Institute of Taxation; Member of the Marketing Institute of Ireland, of the Software CEO Forum Dublin and a Member of the Institute of Directors London. Peter has been honoured with many awards over the years. In 2006, the Irish Software Association declared him Person of the Year, in 2004 he was named Ernst and Young Industry Entrepreneur of the Year. In June 2009 Peter was listed as a Laureate of the Computer World Honors 2009 in Washington DC on the nomination of Morgan Stanley. Back to top
	Martin Conry Martin Conry is the Secretary of Dublin City University. Martin joined DCU in 1991. The Secretary's Office has overall responsibility for the administrative functions of the University. Prior to joining DCU, Martin was a Secondary School Teacher and Principal of St. Kevin's College. Martin holds degrees from NUI Maynooth and Trinity College Dublin. Back to top
	Robert Cooney Mr. Cooney is Managing Director of Aureo Partners Ltd. a consulting company that specialises in investment opportunities for the insurance and reinsurance industry. From 1999 - 2008 Mr. Cooney was President and Chief Executive Officer of Max Re. Ltd. In 1998 Mr. Cooney became President and Chief Executive Officer of XL Insurance Ltd. and Executive Vice President of XL Capital Ltd. From 1995 to 1998 Mr. Cooney was President and Chief Operating Officer of XL Insurance Ltd. From 1983 to 1987 Mr. Cooney held various senior management positions at Trenwick Group, Inc. a U.S. based insurer and reinsurer, and its Bermuda based subsidiary, Trenwick Services, Ltd., including the position of President of Trenwick Services, Ltd. from 1986 to 1987. Mr. Cooney received his B.S. in Geology in 1976 from Mount Allison University and received his M.B.A. from Queen's University in 1978. Back to top
	Bernie Cullinan Bernie is a creative and energetic leader and has been involved in business, primarily the software sector for a number of years in both executive and non executive director roles. Bernie is CEO of Clarigen (www.clarigen.com), a company providing an outsourced solution for companies in the small and medium enterprise sector. Bernie is also a non executive director of Supplierforce, an Irish company selling an online procurement solution. Prior to this, Bernie was CEO of SteelTrace, an Irish software company,selling around the globe which was sold to Compuware Corporation in Detroit in 2006. Prior to SteelTrace, Bernie was COO of Performix Technologies, another international technology company. In these roles, Bernie has played a key role in driving growth through sales and acquisition. Prior to Performix, Bernie has held challenging roles driving business growth within organisations, in some cases, coming from a troubled business base, delivering significant results in Ireland, the UK and Australia. Bernie is a past Chairman of the Irish Software Association (ISA), the representative body of the technology sector in Ireland and is the immediate past President of the Chartered Institute of Management Accountants (CIMA) in Ireland. It was in her capacity as Chairman of the ISA that Bernie devoted much of her focus of that role to working with Enterprise Ireland on the development of the Leadership 4 Growth program which has now run for three years. Bernie has a BComm and an MBA from University College Dublin and is a Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Management Accountants. Back to top
	Daniel E Dolan Dan Dolan retired as Executive Vice President of Aon Re Worldwide in March 2010. His immediate area of responsibility was Professional Liability and all East Coast US Medical Malpractice Business. Prior to joining Aon, Dan was Executive Vice President for Guy Carpenter Inc., a Member of the company's Board of Directors and head of their Casualty Treaty Department. He was responsible for Major Accounts and Professional Liability, including Medical Malpractice. Dan served three years in the United States Army at the rank of Captain. He graduated from Duquesne University in 1969 with a Bachelor of Science Degree in Business Administration. Back to top
	Tommy Drumm Originally from the DCU neighbourhood Collins Avenue, Tommy has over 30 years experience of the engineering, construction, oil & gas, leisure and property sectors here and abroad. He spent 25 years working for McInerney Holdings Plc in the Middle East, Spain, Portugal, the UK and Ireland. He has represented the Irish House Builders Association as a National Committee member and is a Fellow of Engineers Ireland and a member of the European Federation of Engineering Organisations. Tommy is a graduate of Trinity College and holds an honours Degrees in Engineering and Mathematics and a Diploma in Computers for Engineers. He has enjoyed great sporting success and played for St Aidan’s Secondary School in Whitehall, Whitehall Colmcille GAA club, and St Kevin’s Soccer Club. He then went on to represent TCD at Combined University level in Soccer & Gaelic. In playing for the Dublin Gaelic Football Team for ten years he made it to seven All Irelands, and won three, one as Captain. Tommy has four GAA All Star Awards and was voted Texaco Footballer of the Year in 1983. Back to top
	Robert M. Dunn Ph.D. Robert M. Dunn is the Director of the Integrated Engineering & Business programme in the College of Engineering, at the University of Notre Dame - a programme he designed and currently teaches in. Prior to joining Notre Dame, Bob worked with IBM Corporation for 33 years. At IBM, Bob worked in development, manufacturing, and corporate staff positions. He started in Oswego, New York, in IBM's military products division, transferring to IBM's commercial products division 5 years later. Bob has held numerous managerial positions in IBM. He has been in executive positions for the last 12 years, at sites including the Electronics Packaging Technology Development Labs, in Texas and New York. Bob was the executive responsible for managing the start-up of IBM's manufacturing facility in Dublin, Ireland and was the site manager in Poughkeepsie, New York. In addition to holding a BS degree in Engineering Science awarded by the University of Notre Dame, Bob also earned an MS from Penn State University in Engineering Mechanics, and a Ph. D. from the University of Illinois in Aeronautical Engineering. Back to top
	Pamela Farrell Venzke Pamela Farrell Venzke serves as Global Government Relations Leader for GE Thermal Energy. In this role, Pamela manages our key Federal, State and Provincial relationships, as well as coordinating business support initiatives in North, Central and South America, Europe, China and Australia. She serves on the staff of CEO GE Thermal Products, Paul Browning, providing government relations and policy counsel to the operating team globally. Pamela joined GE in March 2001 as the Government Relations Leader for GE Global Research. In 2005, she took on a regional management role for corporate government relations for GE based out of New York. In 2007, she joined GE Consumer & Industrial to lead a program focused on building government partnerships for the business’s ecomagination offering. She returned to Washington, DC, to join GE Energy in May 2009. Prior to joining GE, Pamela served for six years as professional staff on the U.S. Senate Committee on Armed Services focusing on science and technology programs and policy. From 1999 - 2001, she served as lead staff for the Committee’s newly formed Emerging Threats & Capabilities Subcommittee. She has a bachelors’ degree in Philosophy from the College of Charleston, Charleston, SC, and an MBA from the American University in Washington, DC. Pamela serves as a Member of the New York City Investment Fund – CleanTech Task Force. Locally, Pamela is a member of the Greater Washington Board of Trade Green Committee. Back to top
	Mary Finan A native of Roscommon, Mary Finan was educated at University College Dublin, Dublin , where she obtained a BA degree. She later completed a Marketing Management Programme in the Harvard Business School . She was one of the founding partners of Wilson Hartnell Public Relations and is now its Chairman. She is chairman of the RTE Authority, Economic and Social Research Institute (ESRI) and a member of the council of the Dublin Docklands Development Authority (DDDA). She is a director of Canada Life ( Ireland ), the ICS Building Society, Opera Ireland, the Gate Theatre, the Tyrone Guthrie Centre at Annaghmarkerrig, the UCD Clinton Institute for American Studies and the Buildings of Ireland Charitable Trust. Mary was the first woman president of the Dublin Chamber of Commerce. Back to top
	Michael Hayes Mike Hayes joined KPMG in September 2002 as a tax partner. He is a fellow of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Ireland and a member of the Institute of Taxation. Mike was previously a partner with Arthur Andersen, joining them in 1989 and becoming a tax partner in 1999. Specialising in the area of Financial Services and International Taxation, Mike's core area of expertise is in arranging cross-border financing and intellectual property transactions. He has also lectured extensively on these topics at international tax conferences in Europe and the US. Mike has been a member of various IFSC-related committees and organisations over the years including the IFSC Trust. In his spare time, Mike is an avid soccer supporter, regularly attending games all over Europe. His other interests include Film, History and Middle Eastern travel. Mike holds a Bachelor of Commerce degree from University College Cork and a Diploma in Professional Accounting from UCD. Back to top
	Ann Horan Ann Horan Chief Executive of DCU Ryan Academy since January 2009. In 2005/06, Ann was responsible for the set up and launch of the Ryan Academy as its Interim CEO. Immediately prior to this, she was Managing Director of Bank of Ireland Finance, the asset and commercial finance subsidiary of the Bank of Ireland Group. In this role she was responsible for the integration and leadership of two Bank of Ireland subsidiary companies and the acquisition and integration of a third company. Through her leadership, the group achieved significant synergies and cost savings and set a clear strategic direction to achieve market dominance in key markets. Bank of Ireland Finance had a loan book of €1.5bn, profitability of €25m per annum and a staff of 300. Ann has extensive experience of all aspects of financial services, having worked in that industry for almost 30 years. She is a past Director and Vice President of the Institute of Bankers, a member of the Irish Medicines Board, Honorary Treasurer of the International Women’s Forum Ireland, a member of the Executive Committee of ACCA Ireland and a member of Council for the South Dublin Chamber of Commerce. Back to top
	Alfie Kane Mr. Kane is an independent consultant and Director of KCCS Associates. He was the former Group CEO of Eircom Plc, CEO In Residence at Baker Capital Inc New York and a non-executive Director of various companies in the US and Europe. He is President of Glencree the National Centre for Peace & Reconciliation in Ireland. Mr Kane is a Fellow of the Institution of Engineers in Ireland and a founder member of the Irish Academy of Engineering. Back to top
	Liavan Mallin Liavan Mallin graduated from DCU in 1985 with a BSc in Computer Applications. She later received a degree in Applied Finance from the Irish Management Institute. Ms. Mallin is the founder, Chairperson and CEO of ShopDirect as well as being founder and Chairperson of Onemade.com. A member of the Board of Trustees, Dublin City University since 1998, she has worked with the DCU Educational Trust to improve teaching, sports and social facilities at the University. Ms. Mallin is also on the Board of Directors, 2003 Irish Special Olympics. Ms. Mallin is a successful entrepreneur who established several companies, one of which, Celtic Hampers, became the largest mail order company in Ireland. Back to top
	John Martin John Martin graduated from DCU in 1986 with a B.Eng. in Electronic Engineering. A native of Co. Cavan, he emigrated to the United States after graduation and settled in the Boston area. John is the founder, President and CEO of The Cavan Group, an IT Professional Services and Consulting firm. He has always been passionate about business and his company is focused on leveraging technology to enable business growth and efficiency. John has been active in promoting the ties between DCU undergraduate /post-graduate students and the business sector. He participated in the Citi Speaker Series in 2009 and hosts an annual DCU MBA lecture series in Boston every Fall. Prior to The Cavan Group, Mr. Martin held technology leadership positions in several respected corporations including Houghton Mifflin, Racal DataComm, and Fidelity Investments. Back to top
	Leo Martin Leo Martin joined the Board of Grafton as an Executive Director in 2005. He had been Chief Executive of Heiton Group plc prior to its acquisition by Grafton that year. As CEO of Heiton Group he astutely steered the amalgamation of Heiton with Grafton. He was appointed Chief Operating Officer of Grafton in 2006 and was responsible for streamlining and integrating circa 100 Group acquisitions in the UK and Ireland. He also integrated the Irish and UK units into a single operational platform. He succeeded in generating in excess of €80 million in efficiency and cost savings for the Group from acquisition integration and during the current recession. Prior to his appointment as CEO of Heitons, Mr. Martin had held the positions of Finance Director with the Group and of Managing Director of Heiton McFerran. He had also been Finance Director of House of Fraser Harrods retail interest in Ireland, Switzers. A Chartered Accountant, he practiced with PriceWaterhouseCoopers. From 1988 to 1996 he served on the Council of the Institute of Chartered Accountants in Ireland. He is a Director of Buy4Now and is a member of the Chartered Accountants Regulatory Board. He is an alumnus of the Wharton Business School in Philadelphia and also studied at Trinity College Dublin where he obtained a Business and Economics Degree. Back to top
	James McCann James McCann is CEO of 1-800-FLOWERS.COM. Among his many honours are the Entrepreneur of the Year award by Merrill Lynch and Inc. Magazine, the Retailer of the Year award from Chain Store Executive Magazine, the Advocate of the Year award from Ernst & Young and the Long Island Association, and the Direct Marketer of the Year from Direct Marketing Day New York. He has also been named one of the Top Business 100 in Irish America Magazine. Active in numerous business and community organizations, Mr McCann is on the National Boards of Directors of Gateway 2000, OfficeMax, the National Retail Federation, and Very Special Arts, as well as the Boards of Hofstra University and Winthrop-University Hospital . He also supports programmes for the developmentally disabled. Back to top
	Padraig McKeon Padraig McKeon is one of Ireland's most senior corporate communications advisors with over 25 years working with senior management teams in Irish business and the public service. He is a Communications Studies graduate of DCU with post graduate qualifications in Accounting and Finance. He was appointed as a Director of leading Irish PR firm Drury Communications in 1997 and was Managing Director there from 2003 to 2010. He was also a Director of Drury Communications Northern Ireland and spent two years resident in Hungary (1998-2000) where he ran Drury Communications Central Europe. Padraig joined the Board of DCU's Educational Trust in 2006 and is also a Director of the Forum on Public Procurement and Dublin Simon Community. Padraig is a native of Sligo and has a keen interest in all sports. Back to top
	Declan Moylan Declan Moylan is the Chairman of law firm Mason Hayes + Curran which has offices in Dublin, London and New York. He advises and represents a large number of enterprises coming to do business in Ireland. He is partner in charge of Mason Hayes + Curran’s activities in the United States. He also has an extensive practice in complex corporate transactions and investigations. He is admitted to practice law in England and Wales, as well as Ireland. Declan is a frequent speaker and lecturer on legal and business topics in conference and seminar environments, as well as in colleges and universities. He is former personal solicitor to the Attorney General of Ireland and has been selected as one of the “Leading 100 lawyers in Europe” by UK publication ‘The Lawyer’. He is a collector of contemporary Irish and British art, and has joint responsibility for the Mason Hayes + Curran corporate art collection, as buyer and curator. He is a member of Business To Arts, and regularly speaks on and promotes the idea of co-operation between the artistic and business communities. Back to top
	Marianna O'Dwyer Born in Texas, Marianna O'Dwyer spent her childhood moving around the United States as the daughter of an Air Force officer. When she was a student at George Washington University, she met and married native New Yorker Brian O'Dwyer, and has lived and worked in New York City for almost thirty years. Marianna earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in political science and a Master of Arts degree in education from George Washington University, as well as a law degree from Hofstra University. Most of Marianna's professional life has been devoted to education. She has been a nursery school teacher and a college administrator. As a lawyer, she litigated several cases involving education. Marianna currently serves as Associate Vice Chancellor of The State University of New York. She coordinates presidential searches at all sixty-four campuses, and also works with the Chancellor on the performance evaluations of campus presidents. In 1968, Marianna re-discovered her family's Irish roots in County Mayo on a trip with her husband and his father, Irish American Lawyer, Politician, and Civil Rights Leader, Paul O'Dwyer. In addition to her professional career, Marianna has also involved herself in various community and civic affairs as a volunteer, including service as a charter member of the Westchester Human Rights Commission. She and Brian have two children, Brendan and Kathleen. Back to top
	Michael O`Halleran Michael D. O’Halleran is Executive Chairman and founder of Aon Benfield, the largest reinsurance brokerage and capital advisory firm in the world. Aon Benfield has operations in more than 50 countries and employs in excess of 3,000 professionals. Mr. O’Halleran also serves as Senior Executive Vice President of Aon Corporation, the leading global provider of risk management, insurance and reinsurance brokerage and human capital consulting, with $10.7 billion in revenue and operating in more than 120 countries and 500 offices. Mr. O’Halleran was previously President and COO of Aon Corporation and has held senior operating positions throughout his 38 year career in the insurance and reinsurance industry. Mr. O’Halleran also is Co-Chairman, with Mayor Richard M. Daley, of World Business Chicago and serves on the board of CareFusion Corporation. He is a member of the Economic Club of Chicago, The Commercial Club of Chicago and World President’s Organization. He also serves as Chairman of the Board of Providence St. Mel School, serves on the boards of Dublin City University in Ireland and the American Ireland Fund. He is the recipient of numerous civic awards including the Ellis Island Award, the American Ireland Person of the Year and the American Ireland Chamber of Commerce Man of the Year. Mr. O’Halleran is a graduate of the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater with a degree in Accounting and Finance. Back to top
	G.T. Peirse Ged Pierse is the chairman and founder of Pierse Contracting, one of Ireland's largest construction and development companies. In addition, he is a promoter and director of many of the new landmark commercial and residential developments that have reshaped the Irish landscape. A civil engineer by profession, Ged lives in Dublin with his wife Paula. They have four daughters and eight grandchildren. An avid sportsman, Ged Pierse is a competitive offshore sailor with the National Yacht Club in Dun Laoghaire and a prominent sponsor and promoter of Irish thoroughbred horse-racing. Among his many voluntary roles, he is Chairman of Leopardstown Racecourse, and sponsor of the annual Pierse Hurdle race at Leopardstown, Dublin. At sixty-four Ged is a devoted family man and an appreciative sponsor of educational and literary endeavours. Back to top
	Anne Scott Anne was appointed Deputy President of Dublin City University in February 2006. Prior to this Anne worked as Professor of Nursing and Head of the School of Nursing since September 2000.She has also worked as Senior Lecturer in the Department of Nursing and Midwifery, University of Stirling and as a lecturer in Glasgow Caledonian University and the University of Glasgow. Anne trained in the West of Ireland, in Sligo General Hospital and took her primary Degree in Trinity College Dublin. She then moved to the University of Edinburgh for her MSc and University of Glasgow for her PhD. She has worked clinically and as an academic in Ireland, Scotland and Kenya; mainly in the areas of oncology, medicine and tropical medicine. Anne’s research interests are in the philosophy and ethics of health care and in judgement and decision-making. Professor Scott has been appointed by the Minister of Health and Children (Ireland) to the Board of the Health Services Executive and the Board of the Health Research Board. She was also a founding member of the Irish Council for Bioethics and is a current board member of the European Academy of Nursing Science. Back to top
	Mary Shine Thompson Mary Shine Thompson PhD (UCD), MPhil (TCD), BEd (NUI), CertRemEd, ATG Mary Shine Thompson was formerly Dean of Research and Humanities at St Patrick’s College Drumcondra (a college of DCU), and a member of DCU executive. She is outgoing chair of Poetry Ireland, the national organisation for poetry, and former president of the Irish Society for the Study of Children’s Literature. She was Principal Investigator of An Foras Feasa (St Patrick’s College), a project applying technological and scholarly resources to Irish culture and traditions as part of the Humanities Serving Irish Society platform. She chaired the third series of Seamus Heaney Lectures and is a member of the series’ current organising committee. She has published many critical works on Anglo-Irish and Young People’s Literature and reviews regularly for the national press. She has worked with the Arts Council and IMMA to research and promote arts in education. Prior to her appointment as dean, she lectured in the English Department of St Patrick’s College and her first position was as primary teacher in Ballymun. Back to top