Prof Ciarán Ó hÓgartaigh

Professor Ciarán Ó hÓgartaigh was appointed President of University of Galway (formerly NUI Galway) in January 2018.  Born in Dublin, he was brought up in an Irish-speaking home in Galway attending Scoil Iognáid and Coláiste Iognáid.  He is a first-class honours, first-in-class BComm graduate of NUI Galway and trained as a Chartered Accountant with Arthur Andersen (Dublin) and holds a PhD in Accounting from the University of Leeds.  

 

Prior to his appointment at University of Galway, Ciarán served as Principal and Dean of UCD College of Business, leading its schools in Dublin and its overseas programmes in Hong Kong, Singapore and Sri Lanka.  He also worked in academic leadership roles in Victoria University of Wellington, New Zealand and in Dublin City University.   

 

Ciarán has published widely on financial reporting and on accounting history in international peer-reviewed publications and is a former Fulbright scholar at Northeastern University, USA.  A fellow of the Institute of Chartered Accountants in Ireland and the American Accounting Association Doctoral Consortium, he has served as Audit Committee Chair at the Dept of Marine, Communications and Natural Resources and as a member of the Audit Committee at the Dept of Finance. 

 

In his first years in office, Ciarán drove the development of a new strategy for University of Galway for the period 2020-2025 in collaboration with staff, students, external stakeholders and university management. In January 2020, he formally launched Shared Vision, Shaped by Values, which outlines the University’s future direction and priorities guided by the four core values of respect, excellence, openness and sustainability which highlights the importance of collaboration, collective input and regional, national and international partnership in achieving the university’s ambitions to be a force for good in and for the world. In September 2022, the President launched a new chapter in the University’s history when our new name, Ollscoil na Gaillimhe – University of Galway, was formally adopted.  This name reflects who we are, our essence and our identity, and our place in Ireland and in the world.  It represents an exciting opportunity for our university community, alumni and partners to build on our strong traditions, to shape together our promise for the future, and to reaffirm our mission for the public good.   

 

As President, he has maintained his research interests with his contribution on the history of financial accounting practice in The Routledge Companion to Accounting History (2nd Edition, May 2020)