Dr Hugh Brady
President: 2004 – 2013
Dr Hugh Brady was appointed President of University College Dublin (UCD) in January 2004. Born in Dublin in August 1959, he was educated at UCD where he was awarded degrees in Medicine (MB, BCh, BAO 1982) and Science (BSc 1984). He was subsequently awarded PhD and MD degrees for research in renal physiology and molecular medicine.
Prior to returning to UCD in 1996 as Professor of Medicine and Therapeutics, he spent nine years at HarvardUniversity, most recently as Associate Professor of Medicine. In parallel with his academic career at Harvard, he served as Director of the Renal Division of the Brockton/West Roxbury VA Medical Center and Consultant Physician at the Brigham and Women’s Hospital, Boston.
A nephrologist by training, Dr Brady’s research interests include the molecular basis for inflammatory disease and the renal complications of diabetes. He has been the recipient of extensive research grant support from Irish and international sources, including the Irish Health Research Board, Wellcome Trust, US National Institutes of Health and European Commission. He has published over 150 clinical and research articles, reviews and book chapters in leading texts.
He has served as a member and chairperson of the Health Research Board; a member of the Higher Education Authority; President of the Irish Nephrological Society; chairperson of the Universitas 21 network of global research universities; and a member of a range of international committees and task forces. He is a Fellow of the Royal College of Physicians of Ireland and a member of the RoyalIrishAcademy. He has been the recipient of a number of awards and honours including an honorary degree from QueensUniversityBelfast.
Following his appointment as Professor of Medicine at UCD, he played a key role in the development of the UCD Catherine McAuley Centre, a medical education and research centre on the campus of the UCD-affiliated Mater Misericordiae University Hospital, the UCD Conway Institute of Biomolecular and Biomedical Research, and Molecular Medicine Ireland, a biomedical research and education partnership between UCD, TCD, the RCSI, NUI Galway, and University College Cork.
Since taking up his position as President, Hugh Brady has led a multipronged institutional change programme which included comprehensive curriculum reform at undergraduate and graduate levels, major restructuring and growth in masters and PhD training, a re-organisation of UCD’s academic structures and student support services, a new focus on multidisciplinary research with a significant increase in UCD’s research income, outputs, and international ranking. He has overseen a significant expansion of UCD’s international student body and overseas programmes including the establishment of the BeijingDublinInternationalCollege and the UCD Shenzhen Health Sciences Institute in China. During his presidency, UCD’s non-Exchequer income has grown to almost 50% of UCD’s annual turnover and a major capital campaign has been completed which included the UCD Science Centre, UCD Sutherland School of Law, Systems Biology Ireland, the Charles Institute for Dermatology Research and Training, UCD Student Centre, a new high performance sports precinct that includes the training base for Leinster Rugby, new and refurbished student residences, refurbishment of many of UCD’s period houses, the adoption of the new Gateway Campus Master plan with its ‘Beltwalk’ landscaping, woodland walkways and sculptor trail, and the master planning of UCD’s Newman-Library humanities complex.