By Beth Gormley, Communications and PR Manager, UCD College of Business

(l-r) New Academic Director for UCD Smurfit Executive Development (SED), Professor Joe
Peppard; UCD College of Business Dean, Professor Tony Brabazon and former Academic
Director for SED, Professor Pat Gibbons today announced that the School achieved a ranking
of 35th globally in the prestigious 2023 Financial Times Executive Education Open Enrolment
Rankings. SED is the only Irish Business School to be ranked and also placed 21st in Europe.

Dublin, 22 May 2023 - UCD Smurfit Executive Development has achieved a ranking of 35th
globally in the prestigious 2023 Financial Times Executive Education Open Enrolment
Rankings.

“To be ranked 35th in the world is an outstanding achievement and speaks to the depth and
breadth of our faculty expertise and the premium that our participants place on original
thinking and continuous personal development,” said Professor Joe Peppard, who was
recently named as the new Academic Director of UCD Smurfit Executive Development.

“The launch of Ireland’s Year of Skills Report earlier this month, highlighted that significant
investment in skills, including support for developing management capabilities and adoption
of high-performance work practices, is the essential ingredient to ensure that organisations
across Ireland can increase productivity, innovation and competitiveness,” continued
Peppard.

“As a global leader, UCD Smurfit Executive Development has a track record of enhancing
participants’ leadership skills at the highest levels, allowing them to immediately give back
to their organisations to advance business and team performance. Satisfaction and
reputation are evidenced by growing participant numbers year on year, and with many
attendees returning for additional programmes, we will continue to play a significant role in
supporting Ireland’s economic growth,” concluded Peppard.

Within the ranking criteria, UCD Smurfit Executive Development is globally ranked
25th place for New Skills and Learning, 28th place for Aims Achieved and 28th place for
International Location which highlights the extent to which programmes are run off-site and
outside the school’s base country and region bringing diversity of thought to the learning
environment.

“In today’s challenging and dynamic environment, excellence of business leadership and the
continued upskilling of all leaders is more important than ever,” said UCD College of
Business Dean Professor Anthony Brabazon.

“Smurfit Executive Education has developed a global reputation for the quality of its
programmes, the quality of its programme participants, and the quality of its faculty
expertise, with these factors combining to create a vibrant and transformative thought-
leadership and educational environment. UCD College of Business is continually investing in
this environment and in further widening the scope of our programme offerings.”

“As Ireland’s global business school, we seek to provide a vibrant nexus of connectivity,
flow, and interaction drawing on Ireland’s location as a gateway to Europe, culminating in
cutting-edge, rigorous and relevant, executive development programmes.”

As part of the UCD College of Business 2022-2026 strategic plan, an ambitious vision has
been developed for UCD Smurfit Executive Development which will see a significant
expansion in its offerings in the years ahead at both individual executive and organisational
levels.

For further information contact: Beth Gormley, Communications and PR Manager, UCD
College of Business: 087 170 1652 or beth.gormley@ucd.ie