Mark Dobbin
UNIVERSITY COLLEGE DUBLIN
HONORARY CONFERRING
Tuesday, 2 December 2025 at 11 am
President, Ambassador King, Colleagues, UCD Graduates, and Honoured Guests, it is my great privilege to share some of the many contributions and accomplishments of Mark Dobbin, to whom the University will award an honorary doctorate.
Mark Dobbin is singular in his contribution to, and support of, research and exchange between Ireland and Canada. Through his work as co-chair of the Ireland Canada University Foundation (ICUF), as Chair of Business and Arts NL, and as Honorary Consul of Ireland for Newfoundland and Labrador, Mark has been an important leader in supporting the social, cultural, and economic life of Ireland, Newfoundland, Canada, and the wider world.
A businessperson and philanthropist, Mark is the founder of Killick Capital Inc., a Canadian private investment firm focused on aviation and other sectors, with one of its key ventures, Killick Aerospace, based in Dublin. From 1998 to 2003, he was the Chair and CEO of Vector Aerospace Corporation, a globally recognised aviation company. Prior to that, he spent 17 years at CHC Helicopter Corporation, the world’s largest helicopter company, where he served as Senior Vice President and a member of the Board of Directors.
Community-minded and forward-thinking, Mark has dedicated himself to supporting the infrastructure that enables others to pursue research, creativity, innovation, and excellence. Deeply invested in Ireland–Canada connections, he and his family have made significant contributions to fostering creative exchange between our countries, and to UCD in particular, through the Craig Dobbin Chair in Canadian Studies, and the UCD Dobbin Centre for Canadian Studies.
As co-chair of the Ireland Canada University Foundation, Mark has played a pivotal role in advancing the Foundation’s mission of fostering academic exchange and cultural understanding between Ireland and Canada, supporting hundreds of Irish and Canadian scholars to undertake research, advance knowledge, pursue truth, and promote education and learning. Through the Foundation’s scholarship programmes, researchers from both countries have been able to deepen research and cultural relations, promoting values of inclusivity, tolerance, and shared responsibility.
Mark is a proud Newfoundlander who resisted the pull of the Canadian mainland and instead chose to focus on building business and opportunity in his home province. He has been a driving force behind Business and Arts NL, an organisation he co-founded and continues to co-chair. This initiative reflects his commitment to the arts in Newfoundland, with a mission “to facilitate meaningful dialogue and purposeful partnerships between the arts and business communities, generating positive impact and cultivating a vibrant, creative, and resilient province like no other.” With the support of his children, he also founded the Mark and Sandra Dobbin Foundation, whose name honours his late wife, Sandra, who sadly passed away in May 2024. The Foundation supports a range of charities across Newfoundland and across Canada, including the Avalon Housing Trust, which builds social and affordable housing in Newfoundland. Partnership, collaboration, and community are central to Mark’s work, and there was no greater partnership than the one he shared with Sandra, who helped him build his businesses and raise their beautiful family.
Mark’s Newfoundland identity, combined with his Irish heritage, brings a unique dimension to his work in fostering Irish–Canadian connections. As the Honorary Consul for Ireland in Newfoundland and Labrador, he has helped reinforce and celebrate these ties within his community. His generous support of the Craig Dobbin Legacy Programme, launched here at UCD in October 2024, ensures that his—and his father’s before him—vision of academic collaboration between UCD and Canadian universities continues into the future. The Craig Dobbin Legacy Scholarship supports 15 UCD researchers at various stages of their careers, from doctoral candidates to full professors, making research trips to universities across Canada. It also supports 15 Canadian scholars visiting UCD, with particular emphasis on Newfoundland, with three of the 15 coming from Memorial University.
With this honorary doctorate, UCD celebrates both Mark’s personal contributions to UCD and to Canada–Ireland relations, and his dedication to upholding his family’s legacy, particularly as UCD’s Craig Dobbin Chair of Canadian Studies draws to a close. It is fitting and full-circle, as Mark’s father Craig received an honorary doctorate when the Dobbin Chair of Canadian Studies began nearly 30 years ago. As we celebrate Mark’s contributions and achievements, we also look forward to seeing how his legacy, and that of his family, will continue to enrich Ireland–Canada collaboration in years to come. UCD is proud to honour him today, and he will always be warmly welcomed on our campus in the years ahead.
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Praehonorabilis Praeses, totaque Universitas,
Praesento vobis hunc meum filium, quem scio tam moribus quam doctrina habilem et idoneum esse qui admittatur, honoris causa, ad Gradum Doctoratus in Artibus; idque tibi fide mea testor ac spondeo, totique Academiae.