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Governing Authority

The Governing Authority is responsible for ensuring the University maintains internal systems of good governance that enable accountability, transparency and objective decision making. Among its primary responsibilities are the appointment of the President, determination of policy and strategy, and the control and administration of all lands and properties of the University.

The Governing Authority of University College Dublin was established under the Universities Act, 1997 and is the direct successor of the Governing Body established under the founding Charter of University College Dublin (1908). The current Governing Authority began its term on 7 November 2023. The Governing Authority comprises 19 members: an external Chair, the President of the University, six external members, three Ministerial nominees, five internal members and three student members. 

Committee support: University Secretariat | govauth@ucd.ie

Please note these dates have been approved by GA but are subject to change. 

 GA Meeting Schedule 2023/2024

Submission Deadline

 Meeting Date
Meetings commence at 10 a.m. unless otherwise specified

Thursday, 24 August 2023 

Thursday, 21 September 2023 

Thursday, 28 September 2023

Thursday, 26 October 2023

Monday, 16 November 2023

Thursday, 14 December 2023

N/A - Strategy Session

Thursday, 01 February 2024, 9am

Thursday, 22 February 2024

Thursday, 21 March 2024, 2pm

Thursday, 11 April 2024 

Thursday, 09 May 2024

Thursday, 30 May 2024 

Thursday, 27 June 2024

GA/ARMC/FRAMC Dates 2023-24

 GA Meeting Schedule 2024/2025

Submission Deadline

 Meeting Date
Meetings commence at 10 a.m. unless otherwise specified

Thursday, 22 August 2024

Thursday, 19 September 2024 

Thursday, 26 September 2024

Thursday, 24 October 2024

Thursday, 14 November 2024

Friday, 13 December 2023

N/A

Thursday, 30 January 2025

Thursday, 20 February 2025

Thursday, 20 March 2025

Tuesday, 08 April 2025

Thursday, 08 May 2025

Thursday, 29 May 2025

Thursday, 26 June 2025

Current Governing Authority Membership 

Michael Beary bio photo
Michael Beary (Chair)

Mike Beary has been, until recently, Country Manager Ireland for Amazon Web Services, which employs close to 7,000 direct staff in Ireland as a core part of the Amazon global business, and HR Director for Amazon Europe, Middle East & Africa. Amongst other roles, he was previously HR Director for Amazon Marketplace in Seattle and before that HR Director for Disney Consumer Products in California. He currently serves as a non-executive director on the Board of Tallaght University Hospital and previously served as a non-exec on the Board of IBEC.

Joe Carthy bio picture
Joe Carthy 

Joe Carthy is a professor in the UCD School of Computer Science, with expertise in the area of cybersecurity. He has served as Head of School, College Principal and Dean of Science as well as Acting Data Protection Officer, President of Athletic Union Council (AUC), Aurora Champion, Director of UCD in the Community and previous Member of GA for 2 terms. Joe has a track record of leading EDI initiatives in science and across UCD e.g. introducing both the UCD Values in Action and the UCD Long Service Awards.

 
Jim Clarken

Jim Clarken is CEO of Oxfam Ireland and an Executive Director of Oxfam International. He is Chair of the EU Fundamental Rights Agency and a Commissioner at the Irish Human Rights and Equality Commission. He holds a B. Comm from University of Galway, an MBA from UCC, where he also served as Adjunct Professor, and completed the Chartered Director Programme at the Institute of Directors. Prior to joining the international development sector, Jim worked at senior management and board level in a range of industries serving energy, pharma, environment and start-ups.

Jim Clarken was nominated by the Minister for Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science.

Peter Cross bio picture
Peter Cross

Peter Cross is Managing Director of Trasna Corporate Finance, which provides strategic financial advisory services to businesses and investors, and was previously Chief Financial Officer of Eircom and of BT Openreach.  He is a non-executive director of DAA, VHI, Cubic Telecom and a number of renewable energy businesses managed by Arjun Infrastructure, and previously served as chairman of the Audit & Risk Committees of the HSE and of Ervia.  

Antoinette Dunne bio picture
Antoinette Dunne

Antoinette Dunne is Chief Executive Officer of BCM Global and Non-Executive Chair of the Board of Capitalflow DAC.  Amongst other roles, she was a Director and co-owner of a business and debt consulting firm, Head of Halifax Bank in Ireland and Head of Bank of Scotland's Mortgage and Asset Finance Business.

Valerie Farrell Bio Photo
Valerie Farrell

Valerie Farrell is Head of Human Resources for Teagasc which employs over 1600 staff who are spread across Ireland in 7 large research centres, 50 advisory offices and 7 colleges. In addition to holding other management roles in Teagasc, she was previously Compensation and Benefits Manager for Intel Ireland and HR Specialist in Xilinx. She served on the Governing Body for Institute of Technology Carlow for seven years up to its formation of the South East Technological University. She was a member of the Audit and Risk Committee and undertook the role of Vice Chair in IT Carlow for two years. She holds a Business Degree from University of Limerick, a Masters in Change Management from University of Brighton and a Diploma in Strategic management from Henley Business School. She holds a Certificate in Equality, Diversity and Inclusion from SETU, is a certified trainer for the European Consultants in Rural Areas (CECRA) and is a member of the Institute of Directors Ireland.

Valerie Farrell was nominated by the Minister for Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science.

Orla Feely bio picture
Orla Feely

Orla Feely is President of UCD. She holds a BE degree from University College Dublin and MS and PhD degrees from the University of California, Berkeley. Professor Feely is a Member of the Royal Irish Academy and a Fellow of the IEEE (Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers), Engineers Ireland and the Irish Academy of Engineering. Among other roles, she has served as President of Engineers Ireland, Chair of the Irish Research Council, and as Board Member and Deputy Chair of the Higher Education Authority.

Kelly Fitzgerald bio picture
Kelly Fitzgerald

Kelly Fitzgerald is an Assistant Professor in the UCD School of Irish, Celtic Studies and Folklore. 

Conor Galvin bio picture
Conor Galvin

Conor Galvin is Chief Executive of Dairygold, one of Ireland’s largest milk processers based in the Munster region. Prior to joining Dairygold in 2014, he held senior management positions in DCC plc, Diageo Plc and Proctor & Gamble. He holds a B.Sc. (Hons) degree in Human Physiology and a Ph.D. in Cell Biology from University College Dublin, an MBA from Smurfit Business School, a BLL degree from the Open University, and is a member of the Certified Management Accountant (CMA). He is married to Catherine and has two daughters.

John MacMenamin bio picture
John MacMenamin

John MacMenamin is the Chair of the Irish Financial Services Appeals Tribunal.  Amongst other roles, he was previously a judge of the Supreme Court of Ireland.

Marc Matouc bio picture
Marc Matouc

Marc Matouc is a Masters in Geopolitics and the Global Economy student and a twice-elected Graduate Officer of the UCD Students' Union. His role focuses mainly on the postgraduate domain but also the undergraduate student domain, focusing on community-building and promoting a fun and active college spirit. As an active member of student politics, he works towards student welfare, academia and sociality.

Sarah McGrath bio picture
Sarah McGrath

Sarah McGrath is the Education Officer of the UCD Students Union. Sarah is a Radiography student, and will return to her studies next year after her Sabbatical role. She has been involved in the Students' Union as Class Representative and College Officer for Health Science since 2020.

Jimmy Muldoon bio picture
Jimmy Muldoon

Jimmy Muldoon is a Senior Technical Officer in the School of Chemistry, and manages the School's Mass Spectrometry facility. He is the Chair of the School's GDPR Committee and is a member of the School EDI and Data Management committees. Jimmy represents University Technical staff on a number of University committees and fora including ACQEC and the Technical Development Network. Jimmy is a B.Sc. and Ph.D. alumnus of The University of Galway (formerly NUI, Galway), and completed a Masters in Management in UCD Smurfit in 2010.

Fiona Mullan bio picture
Fiona Mullan

Fiona Mullan is the Chief People Officer at Bloom & Wild, a UK headquartered ecommerce company. She joined from Ding, a fintech scale up after its sale to Pollen St Capital. Prior to Ding, Fiona spent her career in the US multinational technology industry joining Meta in 2014 where she led the international human resources function. Prior to joining Meta, Fiona spent nine years at Microsoft, most recently leading human resources for Microsoft in Asia Pacific having started her career with Accenture. Fiona was Chairperson of Fastrack to IT, a non-profit organisation and sat on the Board of Make a Wish Ireland. Fiona holds a BA, an MSc, and a Diploma in Information Systems.

Martha Ni Riada bio picture
Martha Ní Riada

Martha Ní Riada, UCD Students' Union President, is a graduate of Law with Social Justice at UCD. Martha was previously elected as the UCD Students' Union Education Officer in 2022/23 and is the UCD representative on the UnaEuropa Student Board. As chief spokesperson for the Union, Martha's core responsibilities are to lead the political direction of the Union, advocate on behalf of students, create strong relations with faculty and staff, and ensure that the work of the Union is impactful at both local and national levels.

Claire Nolan bio picture
Claire Nolan

Claire Nolan is the School Manager for the School of Information and Communication Studies.

Prag Sharma bio picture
Prag Sharma

Prag Sharma is the Global Head of Artificial Intelligence Centre of Excellence in Citigroup.  Amongst other roles, he previously provided advanced analytics consulting services with Deloitte Ireland and led business development for the Insight SFI Research Centre for Data Analytics.

Emma Sokell bio picture
Emma Sokell

Emma Sokell joined UCD in 1999 and is a Professor in the School of Physics. She has been School Head of Teaching & Learning on three occasions, Deputy Head of School (2015-2021) and is currently Head of School. At a UCD level, she is Co-Chair of the Gender Equality Action Group, member of Academic Council Executive Committee, the Dignity and Respect Oversight Group and EDI committee. Past contributions include Science Graduate School Director and member of the AC Examination Committee. She is a member of the Atomic, Molecular and Plasma Physics Group and is currently president of the Irish Federation of University Teachers.

Anne-Marie Taylor bio picture
Anne-Marie Taylor

Anne-Marie Taylor is a partner with Board Excellence, Deputy Chair of the Irish Hospice Foundation and a former board member of the Public Appointments Service. She was a founding member of the 30% Club Ireland and, amongst other roles, led her own consulting practice specialising in strategic business transformation and held senior roles in Accenture.

Anne-Marie Taylor was nominated by the Minister for Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science.

Functions of the Governing Authority are (Universities Act, 1997):

(a) to control and administer the land and other property of the university,

(b) to appoint the chief officer and such other employees as it thinks necessary for the purposes of the university,

(c) subject to the Act and its charter, statutes and regulations, to determine the membership from time to time of the governing authority, and

(d) to perform such other functions as are imposed on it by or under that or any other Act or by its charter, statutes and regulations.

Contact the UCD University Secretariat

Tierney Building, University College Dublin, Belfield, Dublin 4, Ireland.
T: +353 (1) 716 1279 (general enquiries) | E: univsec@ucd.ie