Irish Advisory Board

Liam
FitzGerald
Chairman, Irish Advisory Board

Liam FitzGerald
Chairman, Irish Advisory Board
Liam is a senior and experienced Chief Executive of a large plc in the pharmaceutical services sector, with almost 30 years international business experience. Has also successfully performs in several Non-Executive Director roles across a number of different business sectors. Last year Liam became Chairman of the UCD College of Business Irish Advisory Board.
Currently Liam is Operating Advisor at New York private equity firm Clayton, Dubilier & Rice helping to drive healthcare investments. In 2016 Liam stepped down as CEO of UDG plc, a FTSE 250 company with a market capitalisation of €2 billion. He served as Chief Executive for 15 years and as a member of the Board for the past 20 years During his time as CEO, the company transformed from an Irish pharmaceutical distribution business into a global healthcare services business operating in over 20 countries and employing 8000 people.
He joined United Drug in 1993 and had responsibility for the Contract Distribution Outsourcing (CDO) business before being appointed to the Board in 1996. In that year, Liam also took responsibility for expansion of the Company’s CDO business into the UK market. Liam started his career in the Jefferson Smurfit Group plc graduate programme. After a number of years in various Divisions of the Smurfit Group, he spent a brief time in the advertising industry.
In May this year Liam became Chairman of the Gowan Group a company controlling many successful trading companies. Liam is a former chairman of The Marketing Society in Ireland and of Traidlinks, a charity that supports innovation and entrepreneurship in Southern Africa as well as a former non-executive director of C&C plc and Warner Chilcott plc.
Liam graduated from University College Dublin with an MBS degree in 1987 having graduated with a BComm a year earlier.

Sinéad
Bailey
Strategy and Operations Lead, Ireland at Bristol Myers Squibb

Sinéad Bailey
Strategy and Operations Lead, Ireland at Bristol Myers Squibb
Sinéad Bailey is the Strategy and Operations Lead, Ireland for the Irish Bristol Myers Squibb commercial affiliate. She has spent the last decade working for one of the world’s leading global pharmaceutical companies which specialises in Cardiology, Oncology, Haematology, Immunology amongst other therapeutic areas. Sinéad’s experience lies primarily in strategic marketing and sales leadership, and she has worked in a number of multinationals spanning FMCG, Consumer Healthcare as well as Ethical Pharmaceuticals.
Her primary degree is in industrial biochemistry, and she also holds qualifications in marketing, health economics, corporate governance as well as having successfully completed an Executive MBA in UCD’s Michael Smurfit Graduate Business School. Sinéad is passionate about building brands which drive positive health outcomes for people and very much connects with BMS’s mission of helping patients prevail over serious diseases.
Outside of work, Sinéad is married to Alan and has two children, Caoimhe and Seán. She enjoys supporting her kids with their interests in various sports as well as Irish traditional music. To support herself she stays healthy through spending time with friends, practicing yoga, sea swimming and travelling with her family.

Prof Anthony
Brabazon
Dean, UCD College of Business

Prof Anthony Brabazon
Dean, UCD College of Business
Anthony Brabazon is a Full Professor of Accounting and College Principal and Dean, College of Business.
Previous positions held in UCD include Director for UCD Smurfit School, Vice-Principal of Research and Innovation for the College of Business and Law, Head of Research for the School of Business and Programme Director for the Master of Accounting Degree. Anthony was also academic project director for the design and construction of the undergraduate Quinn School of Business. In addition, he has held a variety of pro bono and non-executive directorship positions in professional bodies and other organisations, including membership of the Ethics Board of CIMA and a member (and chair) of the CCAB-I (Accounting Standards Consultative Committee - Ireland).
His primary research interests concern the development of natural computing theory and the application of natural computing algorithms to real-world problems, including the domain of business and finance. He is co-founder and co-director of the Natural Computing Research and Applications Group at UCD. Anthony has published in excess of 200 peer-reviewed journal and conference papers and has authored or edited fifteen books. He is founder of EvoFin, the only dedicated European research workshop on the application of evolutionary algorithms to computational finance and economics and is also a member of the IEEE Computational Finance and Economics Technical Committee.
Anthony completed his B Comm and Dip. Prof Accounting studies at UCD before qualifying as a professional accountant with KPMG. Subsequently he undertook postgraduate studies at number of universities including Trinity College Dublin, Heriot-Watt, Kingston and Stanford.

Fiona
Carney
COO at Microsoft EMEA

Fiona Carney
COO at Microsoft EMEA
Fiona is COO for EMEA at Microsoft. She leads a regional team supporting a complex portfolio of markets including Western Europe, UK, France, Germany, Netherlands, Switzerland and Central Eastern Europe and Middle East & Africa. She covers a number of functions including Marketing, Go to Market, Sales Operations and strategy for the entire Microsoft Commercial portfolio- which spans across multiple cloud solutions from Azure to Business Applications, Modern Work, Security and cross solution areas including AI and sustainability. As COO her main function is to support the running of the business, and support our customers to digitally transform in the era of AI.
Her background is in Management Consulting, where she worked with KPMG and Accenture in Business Strategy, Process Optimisation and Change Management for over 10 years. In 2007, Fiona joined Microsoft and has worked in numerous roles and led functions of the business- including Customer Experience, Marketing, Sales, Operations and Go to Market. Most recently Fiona was leading Marketing for EMEA as CMO and previously had been COO for Western Europe, APAC, and run Operations for Asia.
Fiona and is passionate about development of people and ensuring a diverse workforce and had led the Asia Pacific and Western Europe D&I Councils in Microsoft for a number of years. She is a qualified Executive Coach specializing in performance improvement, and psychodynamic group coaching. Fiona has board experience as VP of the British Chamber of Commerce in Singapore for 2 years.

Lorna
Conn
CEO at CPL

Lorna Conn
CEO at CPL
Lorna Conn is CEO of Cpl and Head of Europe Technology Division and Senior Managing Executive Officer of Outsourcing Inc, Cpl’s Tokyo listed parent company. Lorna is an Independent Non-Executive Director of Bord na Móna plc and Glenveagh Properties plc. Lorna is also an Advisory Board member of Ireland’s 30% Club. Lorna has previously held senior roles in a number of public companies, residing in both Ireland and America during this time.
Lorna is a Chartered Director and a qualified Chartered Accountant, having trained with Deloitte. Lorna holds a Bachelor of Commerce degree from University College Dublin and a Masters in Accounting from the Michael Smurfit Business School.

Seamus
Hand
Managing Partner of KPMG in Ireland

Seamus Hand
Managing Partner of KPMG in Ireland
Seamus is the Managing Partner of KPMG in Ireland and is a member of KPMG's Global and EMA boards. Seamus graduated from DCU with a BA in Accounting and Finance in 1992 and a Masters in Accounting in 1993. He joined KPMG in 1993 working in the financial services practice and was seconded for two years to KPMG in Australia from 1996 to 1998. Seamus was elected to the KPMG partnership in 2002 and before his election as Managing Partner in December 2018, he led KPMG’s financial service tax practice in Ireland for 6 years. Seamus previously was the chairman of the KPMG European Investment Management tax network and the KPMG Global Asset Finance tax network. He has worked with many significant global and domestic clients across the financial services market place with experience in aircraft finance, asset management, banking and insurance sectors particularly in relation to significant M&A transactions.

Maeve
Houlihan
Associate Dean and Director of UCD Lochlann Quinn School of Business

Maeve Houlihan
Associate Dean and Director of UCD Lochlann Quinn School of Business
Hailing from Ennis, County Clare, I am proud to serve a vibrant community of 2000+ undergraduate students and staff at our beautiful UCD Belfield campus as Associate Dean and Director of UCD Lochlann Quinn School of Business, and to serve as academic lead for Moore Learning.
As Associate Professor in Management I teach across the UCD Business portfolio from first year undergraduate to Executive Education, focusing on Organisational Behaviour, Work, Management and Development. I lean towards experiential methods and am especially interested in group dynamics and collaboration skills. I recently completed four-year tenure as Vice Principal for Teaching and Learning.
My curiosity about the human side of organising reflects formation in HR&IR (University of Limerick), Management and Organisation Studies (UCD Smurfit), the study of working and managing in front line customer service (Lancaster University PhD 2003), and more recently ongoing clinical training as a group analyst with UCD School of Psychotherapy.
My research appears in journals including Work, Employment and Society; Human Resource Management Journal; Work and Occupations and Journal of Business Ethics and numerous book chapters. I have published two edited collections - Work Matters: Critical Reflections on Contemporary Work (Palgrave Macmillan, 2009) and Searching for the Human in Human Resource Management (Palgrave Macmillan, 2007) with co-author Professor Sharon Bolton.
As a member of the Centre for Business and Society, I am Principal Investigator for a competitively funded Caroline postdoctoral project with Siobhan Airey, examining governance and financing of the Sustainable Development Goals. I work with Dr Penelope Muzanenhamo and Dr David Nyaluke on the Proudly Made in Africa Project, and Catherine McElhinney whose doctoral study of daughters of family business is soon to complete. All told, I am proud and fortunate to work across a diverse, exciting portfolio, with some very inspiring people, and to love what I do.

Ian
Hyland
CEO/Publisher, Business & Finance Media Group

Ian Hyland
CEO/Publisher, Business & Finance Media Group
Ian Hyland is CEO and Publisher at Business & Finance Media Group, President of the global business platform Ireland INC, founder of The Principals Club and a partner with Principal Consulting and Haymarket Capital.
Incorporated in both Dublin and London, Business & Finance was launched in 1964 and acquired in by Ian in 2002. Today Business & Finance operates in the multimedia, digital, print and networking events domains, with its main focus on Dublin, London, New York and Washington DC. Business & Finance hosts The Principals Club of which Ian is founder, and the annual Business & Finance Awards gala.
Ian is Chairman of Ireland INC, a global business platform, with activities operating in Ireland, UK, US and Asia Pacific, aimed at promoting Irish business interests. Ireland INC has operated engagement platforms in New York, Washington DC, London, Shanghai and Hong Kong, with a particular focus on the Unites States and hosts its main activities in New York and Washington DC. Having created the Ireland Day Business Forum at the NYSE – now in its eighth year - Ireland Day is the only international country day hosted by the NYSE.
Ian is a partner at Principal which is an engagement-focused consultancy leveraging human capital of international CEOs, business owners, C-level executives and stakeholders while assisting in positioning of corporate brands in key international markets.
Ian also serves as a director of the Haiti charity The Haven Partnership (New York). He has been Chairman of the Haiti Week programme launched by President Clinton in 2012, raising nearly €2m for housing and education projects across Haiti. He has recently been appointed to the board of the international technology- and education-focused charity Camara, and has served on the founding advisory board of Self Help Africa (New York).

Fergal
Leamy
CEO at Glen Dimplex Group

Fergal Leamy
CEO at Glen Dimplex Group
Fergal Leamy, Chief Executive of the Glen Dimplex Group, leads the world's largest electrical heating and sustainable solutions company with a global workforce of over 8,000 employees in 64 locations. A UCD graduate, Fergal's career over the last 25 years, includes Chief Executive roles at Coillte DAC and the Consolidated Pastoral Company in Australia. He currently serves as Non-Executive Chair of NRG and sits on the Advisory Board of Melior, a prominent private equity group.
Fergal's professional journey began at McKinsey & Company in London, where he worked on significant transactions for consumer-focused clients. His strategic acumen and leadership skills were further honed at Greencore PLC and private equity firm Terra Firma, where he played pivotal roles in successful investments and business turnarounds.
In 2015, Fergal assumed the CEO position at Coillte, overseeing its transformation into a profitable renewable energy company. Transitioning to Glen Dimplex in 2019, Fergal spearheads the company's shift towards sustainable solutions, leading the charge in the adoption of renewable energy technologies.
In addition to his corporate endeavours, Fergal actively supports small businesses, having chaired companies like Orreco and Little Dish. Fergal graduated from University College Dublin with a BBLS degree in 1999.

Enda
McDonagh
Managing Partner of PwC Ireland

Enda McDonagh
Managing Partner of PwC Ireland
Enda McDonagh is the Managing Partner of PwC Ireland and also a member of the PwC EMEA Leadership Team. Enda graduated from UCD with a BComm in 1993 and a Master of Accounting in 1994. He joined PwC in 1994 and has 30 years’ experience as an auditor and business advisor to companies operating in the consumer and industrial products, life science and pharmaceutical sectors. Prior to his election as Managing Partner, he led PwC’s Assurance practice in Ireland for 8 years. Enda spent 3 years in PwC Boston from 2000-2003 and has significant experience working on inbound/outbound transactions between Ireland and the US.

Hugh
McGuire
CEO Glanbia Plc

Hugh McGuire
CEO Glanbia Plc
Hugh McGuire, CEO of Glanbia Plc., is a proven Global Executive with diversified experience leading both Branded Consumer packaged goods and B to B nutritional businesses whilst he adopts an entrepreneurial approach to building brands & businesses, driving organic growth initiatives, M&A and building teams to execute.
Hugh McGuire was appointed to the Board at Glanbia in June 2013 as an Executive Director with responsibility for Glanbia Performance Nutrition. Hugh joined the Group in 2003 and has been CEO of Glanbia Performance Nutrition since 2008. Prior to that he held a number of senior management roles in the Group. He previously worked for McKinsey & Company as a consultant across a range of industry sectors. Prior to this he worked in the consumer products industry with Nestlé and Leaf. Hugh graduated from University College Dublin with an M.Sc. in Food Science in 1992. He has a Diploma in Finance from the Association of Chartered Certified Accountants, Ireland also.

Jane-Ann
McKenna
CEO at Dóchas Network

Jane-Ann McKenna
CEO at Dóchas Network
Jane-Ann McKenna is the Chief Executive Officer of Dóchas, the Irish network for international development and humanitarian organisations. She has significant experience in humanitarian and emergency response, having led Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF) teams in conflict and crises affected areas including Afghanistan, Sudan, Sri Lanka and Central African Republic.
She served as the Executive Director of MSF Ireland from 2011-2016, where she led the strategic growth and scale up of MSF’s Irish operations. More recently, she led the development of MSF’s global strategy for 2020-2023.
Jane-Ann is a qualified accountant (FCCA) with a Master of Business Studies in International Business from UCD Smurfit School of Business, and Bachelor of Commerce Degree from UCD. Jane-Ann has previously been awarded UCD Alumni of the year for Business.

Professor Damien
McLoughlin
Professor of Marketing at UCD Smurfit School

Professor Damien McLoughlin
Professor of Marketing at UCD Smurfit School
Damien is Professor of Marketing and Associate Dean – Internationalisation and Distance Learning at UCD Smurfit School. He has served on the faculty of the S.C. Johnson Graduate School of Management at Cornell University, Asia’s leading business school, the Indian School of Business and at Harvard Business School.
Known internationally as a Strategic Marketing specialist, Damien has published more than seventy papers in prestigious international journals and conferences. He published a book with David A. Aaker of UC Berkeley, Strategic Market Management: Global Edition. As a thought leader he has also written more than a dozen case studies, mainly relating to leadership issues in the food and agribusiness sector.
Damien has worked with a number of the world’s leading firms including Alltech, Allianz, Google, Hewlett-Packard and Microsoft. He designed and currently leads Alltech’s Global Advanced Management Development Programme and Bord Bia’s Marketing Fellowship Programme, and previously Google’s Marketing Academy for the EMEA region. A former Dean of UCD Smurfit School, in 2008 he was appointed to the Medical Council of Ireland and in 2010 to the board of the Health Information and Quality Authority (HIQA), by the Minster for Health and Children. As a board advisor he has worked with a number of high growth firms in the technology sector, including GeoGuides Ltd.
Damien has also been active as an expert witness in cases involving marketing issues. His work is highly regarded and has been recognised with a number of domestic and international awards and distinctions.

Angela
Moore
Managing Partner of Ravensdale Capital

Angela Moore
Managing Partner of Ravensdale Capital
Angela is the Managing Partner of Ravensdale Capital, an investment platform created to provide angel and venture capital investments in startup and early stage technology businesses in the US.
She is the Managing Director of Macha Capital Partners, a private investment fund focused on making investments in small, growth-orientated business in Ireland, with a special focus on women-led initiatives, investing in businesses beyond seed stage in a broad range of sectors including manufacturing, technology and tradable services.
Angela serves on the boards of several organizations, including: UCD Smurfit School Advisory Board; Women in Business NI; Northern Ireland US East Coast Advisory Council; Governance Board at Crescent Capital; The Virginia Distillery Company; The American Ireland Fund; North American Friends of the Lyric Theater Belfast; Somos Amigos Medical Missions; and is a member of the Irish Global Economic Forum. She received her undergraduate training at St. Mary’s College, Queens, and has a BA & MBA from George Washington University.
Angela is originally from Newry, Co. Down and currently resides in the Washington DC area and Carlingford.

Senan
Murphy
Company Director at Kingspan Global

Senan Murphy
Company Director at Kingspan Global
Senan holds a number of Non Executive Directorships including at Kingspan Global, Bluestar Energy Capital and NuWave Sensors. Senan has over 25 years’ experience in international business across financial services, banking and renewable energy. Most recently to late 2022 he was Group Finance Director for CRH plc.,
Senan was appointed to the Board of CRH in January 2016. He joined CRH from Bank of Ireland Group plc where he was the Chief Operating Officer and a member of the Group’s Executive Committee. He previously held positions as Chief Operating Officer and Finance Director at Ulster Bank, Chief Financial Officer at Airtricity and numerous senior financial roles in GE, both in Ireland and the United States. Senan has a B.Comm and is FCA qualified.

Ciaran
Murray
Executive Chairman, ICON plc

Ciaran Murray
Executive Chairman, ICON plc
Mr. Ciaran Murray is the Executive Chairman of ICON plc since March 2017, having previously served as Chief Executive Officer from October 2011 to March 2017. He joined ICON as Chief Financial Officer in 2005 and served in that capacity until his appointment as Chief Executive Officer in 2011.
Mr. Murray is an executive with 35 years of leadership experience forged from a career spent operating in global markets in high-growth entrepreneurial companies and blue-chip multi-nationals, including PricewaterhouseCoopers, Kraft Foods, Novell Inc., Northern Foods and Codec Systems. Mr. Murray has also played a leadership role in advocating for safe, ethical high-quality research through his 2014 Chairmanship of the Association of Clinical Research Organisations (ACRO). ACRO represents the CRO industry globally to key stakeholders including pharmaceutical, biotech and medical device companies, regulators, legislators and patient groups.
In 2014, Mr. Murray was named as a leader in CRO Innovation by PharmaVOICE100, a listing of the most influential people in the biopharma industry.
Mr. Murray graduated with a Bachelor of Commerce degree from University College Dublin and he is a Fellow of the Institute of Chartered Accountants in Ireland. Mr. Murray was awarded an Honorary Degree of Doctor of Laws from University College Dublin in 2013 for his support of third level research and innovation in Ireland.

Barbara
O’Beirne
Global Head of Enterprise Business Development

Barbara O’Beirne
Global Head of Enterprise Business Development
Barbara is the Global Head of Enterprise Business Development at Stripe where she leads revenue growth strategy and works with enterprise customers to grow their businesses. She is also the CEO of Stripe Technology Europe, Stripe’s regulated business in the EEA.
Formerly a Partner with McKinsey & Co, she supported global consumer facing companies to transform and grow their businesses. She is a chartered engineer and MBA graduate. She earned her B.ENg, MScEng and MBA from UCD (2002, '04, '11)

Hilary
O'Meara
Managing Director, Accenture

Hilary O'Meara
Managing Director, Accenture
Hilary O’Meara is the managing director of Accenture’s Resources practice in Ireland, leading Accenture’s work with utility, energy and fuel companies. Working at Accenture for 25 years, Hilary supports clients’ in the design and delivery of strategic business and IT transformation at scale.
Hilary is a member of Accenture in Ireland’s leadership team, a business that has been operating in Ireland for over 50 years. Prior to this, Hilary was the head of Accenture’s Technology practice for five years, responsible for delivering large-scale client technology solutions to accelerate their growth and increase efficiency.
With a deep passion for inclusion in the workplace, Hilary leads Accenture’s inclusion and diversity efforts within the Resources sector across the UK and Ireland, supporting Accenture in its aspiration to be the most inclusive organisation in the world.
Hilary is a member of the Advisory Board at UCD Michael Smurfit Graduate Business School and holds a Bachelor of Science in Computer Science from University College Dublin. She is also a board member of Fast Track to IT.

Feargal
O'Rourke
Chair IDA Ireland

Feargal O'Rourke
Chair IDA Ireland
Feargal O’Rourke is Chair of IDA Ireland and was the former Managing Partner (CEO) of PwC Ireland from July 2015 to late Summer 2023. He was also a member of the PwC EMEA Leadership Team. Prior to this he was the Head of PwC Ireland’s Tax and Legal Services practice and played a major role in the Irish and Global Tax policy debate during that time. Admitted as a Partner in 1996, he worked primarily in the Foreign Direct Investment sector of PwC advising US companies, primarily from the West Coast, on their operations in Ireland and Europe.
He has been appointed by a number of Irish Governments to various roles. He served for 7 years on the board of Forfás, the Irish State body responsible for the development of Industrial policy and the development of science and technology in Ireland. In 2004 he was appointed as one of Ireland’s “independent persons of standing” under the terms of the EU Double Taxation Arbitration Convention. Feargal was appointed by the Government in February 2008 as the only Big 4 representative to the 18 person Commission on Taxation. The Commission was asked to review and report back on the structure, efficiency and appropriateness of the Irish tax system and many of the recommendations proposed by the Commission have now been implemented.
In 2014, Feargal was appointed to the board of directors of the American Chamber of Commerce in Ireland which is the representative body for the 700 US companies based in Ireland at both Government and Industry level. As part of this role, he has chaired the Taxation working group and currently chairs the Brexit working group.
He is a member of the Finance Committee of the Irish Rugby Football Union. He holds a First Class Honours Bachelor of Commerce degree from University College Dublin and also holds the Diploma in Professional Accounting from that University. He is a Fellow of the Institute of Chartered Accountants in Ireland and an Associate of the Irish Taxation Institute.

Nóirín
O'Sullivan
Former Garda Commissioner

Nóirín O'Sullivan
Former Garda Commissioner
Nóirín O'Sullivan most recently served as United Nations Assistant Secretary General for the United Nations Department of Safety and Security based in New York. Nóirín was responsible for providing leadership and overseeing the governance and internal management of the Department, responsible for the safety and security of UN staff members and their dependents worldwide, to enable the delivery of programmes and activities in some of the most complex and challenging environments globally.
Prior to joining the United Nations, Nóirín enjoyed a diverse and successful 36 year career in AnGarda Síochana, making history when she became the first woman to lead An Garda Síochana (Ireland’s National Policing and Security Service) in it’s almost 100 year existence. As Garda Commissioner she had a dual mandate as head of both the National Police Force and Ireland’s Security Service. Nóirín has represented Ireland on several European and International Security and Policing fora and advisory bodies.
She is a member of the North American Advisory Board of the UCD Michael Smurfit Graduate Business School. Nóirín is a graduate of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) National Executive Institute (NEI). She holds a Master in Business Studies (MBS) from the Smurfit School of Business, University College Dublin. She is the recipient of numerous recognition and awards, including an Honorary Doctorate of Laws (LLD) from the University of Ulster for Distinguished Public Service.

Prof Federica
Pazzaglia
Associate Dean and Director - UCD Smurfit School

Prof Federica Pazzaglia
Associate Dean and Director - UCD Smurfit School
Professor Federica Pazzaglia is Director of UCD Michael Smurfit Graduate Business School and is Associate Dean of the UCD College of Business. She completed her PhD at the University of Alberta Business School. Her research interests include social cognition, identity, image, behavioral approaches to strategy, corporate governance, and social and institutional entrepreneurship.
Her work has been accepted for publication in journals such as Journal of Management Studies, Journal of Management, Human Relations, Sloan Management Review, Journal of Vocational Behavior, Journal of Business Ethics, Corporate Governance: An International Review, Human Resource Management, Journal of Business Research, and Family Business Review.
She has received a number of research awards, to include a Dissertation Fellowship from the University of Alberta, and an Early Career Research Award from UCD. She has also received a 'Best Overall Paper Award' and a 'Carlo Masini Award for Innovative Scholarship' and has been a finalist for the 'Carolyn Dexter Award for Best International Paper' at the Academy of Management Conference. She also received a 'Best Reviewer Award' at Corporate Governance: An International Review and a Teaching Award from the University of Alberta. She is member of the editorial boards of Human Relations, Journal of Management Inquiry, and Corporate Governance: An International Review.
Prior to moving to UCD she was Assistant Professor at the University of Manitoba School of Business (Canada) and a Visiting Professor at Instituto de Empresa Business School (Spain). She has taught courses in the Bachelor of Commerce programs at Alberta and Manitoba, in the Master in Management program at Instituto de Empresa, and in the Executive program jointly offered by Instituto de Empresa and Northwestern University.

Billy
Quinlan
Managing Director at BNP Paribas

Billy Quinlan
Managing Director at BNP Paribas
Billy Quinlan is Managing Director and Head of Global Banking Ireland at BNP Paribas and is responsible for managing and developing the Bank’s corporate client franchise in Ireland. Present in Ireland for over 50 years BNP Paribas is the leading Global European Bank supporting clients with comprehensive financing, capital markets, risk management, M&A advisory, and transaction banking services & solutions on a global basis.
With over 20 years international corporate & investment banking experience, including 14 years at BNP Paribas, Billy has spearheaded key initiatives, such as establishing BNP Paribas' presence in Finland and crafting a successful growth strategy. Before BNP Paribas, he spent 9 years in corporate client facing roles at Allied Irish Banks.
A native of Dublin, Billy holds a Bachelor of Commerce degree from University College Dublin and is a Fellow of the Association of Chartered Certified Accountants. He is married with two children and is passionate about music, history, and sport, especially Gaelic Games and Rugby

Dr Michael
WJ Smurfit
Former Chairman of Smurfit Kappa Group

Dr Michael WJ Smurfit
Former Chairman of Smurfit Kappa Group
Dr Michael Smurfit is former Chairman of Smurfit Kappa Group.
Born in St Helen’s, Lancashire in 1936, Dr Smurfit was educated at Clongowes Wood College and joined his father’s company Jefferson Smurfit & Sons Ltd in 1955. He was appointed Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of the Jefferson Smurfit Group in 1977, a position he held until his retirement as CEO in November 2002.
Dr Smurfit led the early expansion of the Group in Ireland and the UK and followed it with a series of acquisitions in the USA, Latin America and Continental Europe – creating in the process Ireland’s first international company and a global leader in paper-based packaging.
As Chairman, Dr Smurfit oversaw the merger of the Smurfit Group with Kappa Packaging BV in 2005 to form the Smurfit Kappa Group – employing 42,000 employees in 33 countries on 5 continents. Following the successful flotation of the newly merged Company, Dr Smurfit retired from his position as Chairman of the Smurfit Kappa Group.
In addition to the many honorary doctorates that Dr Smurfit has been awarded, he was also made a Knight Commander of the British Empire in June 2005. He is the honorary Irish consul to Monaco and has been honoured for his achievements by the Governments of France, Italy, Spain, Venezuela and Colombia.
Dr Smurfit is a member of many sporting and social clubs in Ireland, the UK, USA, Monaco and Spain and is the owner of the K Club in County Kildare which hosted the Ryder Cup in 2006. He has four sons and two daughters.

Michael
Smurfit Jnr
Chief Executive Officer, SF Investments

Michael Smurfit Jnr
Chief Executive Officer, SF Investments
Michael Smurfit Jnr is Chief Executive Officer of SF Investments, a private investment company based in Dublin.
Prior to this position, Michael held a number of senior management positions within the Jefferson Smurfit Group based in the United States and Europe. Michael is also Director of a number of private companies.
He graduated from The Michael Smurfit Business School, UCD in 1993 with an MBA Degree.
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