Posted: 01 November 2006
IUA appoints new Chief Executive Officer
Mr. Ned Costello has been appointed as the new Chief Executive Officer
of the Irish Universities Association (IUA). From early January 2007,
he will replace Mr. Michael McGrath who is retiring after 10 years with
the IUA. Mr Costello is currently Assistant Secretary General at the
Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment where he is Head of the
Office of Science, Technology and Innovation. He has been the driving
force behind the Government’s Strategy for Science, Technology and
Innovation which maps out the future for research and development in
Ireland, including plans to double PhD output in the Sciences and
Humanities and to strengthen the role of the Higher Education system in
knowledge transfer and commercialisation.
Mr. Ned Costello
In his capacity as head of the OSTI and Chair of the Interdepartmental Committee on STI, Mr. Costello has worked closely with the university sector, the Higher Education Authority and the Department of Education and Science. Previously, he has held a variety of roles within the Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment in the fields of Enterprise and Labour Market policy including chairing the Government’s Taskforce on Lifelong Learning. He is currently a Member of the Boards of Science Foundation Ireland and the Tyndall National Institute at UCC. Mr. Costello holds a Bachelor of Education degree from NUI and an MSc in Strategic Management from the University of Dublin.