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Pictured above:  Students at launch of UCD Moore Centre for Business

Monday, 2 September 2019: The new €20 million UCD Moore Centre for Business will, this morning, be opened by founding donor and business leader Angela Moore to honour the legacy of her late husband, entrepreneur, philanthropist and UCD alumnus Dr George G. Moore, remembered as one of the founding fathers of the data analytics industry. Principal corporate partners in this initiative include PwC and KPMG. Notable contributions have been made by UCD Business alumni, EY and the Mont Kavanagh Trust. 

Integrating fully with the UCD Lochlann Quinn School of Business across three levels, this expansive new wing increases the School’s physical space by close to 50%. Designed by leading architecture firm RKD, the UCD Moore Centre for Business brings a new generation of dynamic spaces and student experiences for the changing ways we live, learn and work.

Business leaders from Ireland and North America will join corporate partners, alumni, donors, students and staff to mark the launch of this exciting and evolving next-generation development.

At the launch, a panel discussion, Looking Back and Looking Forward, will be led by RTE presenter and UCD alumna Miriam O’Callaghan. Distinguished UCD business alumni from across the generations will share their vision of the changing world of work toward 2030, 2050 and beyond. Panellists include Breege O’Donoghue (BComm 1972, Chair of Design and Craft Council of Ireland, Chair of Real World Analytics and brand ambassador for Primark); Philip Berber (BComm 1979, Irish-American entrepreneur and philanthropist, Founder of Glimmer of Hope Foundation); Gareth Lambe (BComm International 1994, Head of Facebook Ireland); Aengus Kelly (BComm 1995, CEO of Aercap); and Jane-Ann McKenna (BComm 2003, International Strategic Plan Development, Médicins San Frontières HQ, Amsterdam).

Key features of the new project include the PwC Lecture Theatre - a transformative space that promotes student dialogue with throwable mics and amphitheatre style seating, the KPMG Skills Zone supports a student’s personal and professional skills development, the EY Entrepreneurship and Innovation Hub and the George Moore Digital Collaboration Space enable business students to tackle complex business ideas through the latest advances in learning technology. Extensive co-working spaces mimic those in start-ups and innovation hubs, encouraging informal and formal interactions and collaboration. Media suites, problem-solving classrooms with Oculus virtual-reality headsets, a green roof and slow down zone to encourage mindfulness, are some of the highlights of this forward-looking learning environment.

Speaking ahead of the opening, Professor Anthony Brabazon, UCD Dean of Business said:

“As Ireland’s leading business school we have a consistent track record of investing in world-class facilities that present our students with every opportunity to excel and differentiate themselves as they enter the world of business. The launch of the UCD Moore Centre for Business exemplifies how leadership from alumni and donors, academia, industry and the student body can collaborate to design an educational environment that not only looks towards the future, but is made with flexibility at its core in order to prepare students for a rapidly changing future. The new facility is an exciting part of ongoing campus development plans that firmly place UCD as Ireland’s global university.

We are sincerely grateful for the extraordinary foundational gift donated by Angela Moore in memory of her late husband Dr George Moore, an entrepreneur, philanthropist and passionate advocate for excellence in business education. The philanthropic leadership from our principal corporate partners KPMG and PwC, dedicated alumni and additional corporate partners, has enabled this vision to create Ireland’s most dynamic learning environment for business education.”

Explaining the vision of the UCD Moore Centre for Business, Associate Professor Maeve Houlihan, Director of the UCD Lochlann Quinn School of Business said: “Our students have told us that when we change spaces, it changes how we teach and what is learned. Through this extraordinary initiative, we will expand the mix of learning experiences we offer to meet an evolving and more diverse world. We especially want to create new types of informal working spaces for students and faculty to occupy and interact in more ad-hoc and side-by-side ways that spark dialogue, innovation and collaboration.

The UCD Moore Centre for Business allows our students to stretch and thrive both in and outside of the classroom, along with faculty and fellow students, which is a better representation of how they will work after graduation. This learning environment gives them added insight and experience in developing communication and problem-solving skills, teamwork know-how, and inter-cultural confidence. This is about students, about business, about society and about changing the way we live and work. This is the future of business education.”

Feargal O’Rourke, Managing Partner of PwC Ireland, said: “PwC is excited to continue our investment in the future of business talent through the UCD Moore Centre of Business, the newest part of Ireland’s premier undergraduate business school that attracts talent from around the globe. As technology reshapes the world of business, we are proud to invest in the innovative PwC Theatre which takes auditorium space to a new level of engagement and transparency of which we are really proud. We look forward to the diverse conversations that will happen in this space. In addition to our investment in infrastructure, our scholarship support will help shape future business leaders to be flexible thinkers able to take on an uncertain future with confidence, thinking beyond current challenges and building sustainable solutions for a data-driven world.”

Seamus Hand, Managing Partner of KPMG Ireland, said: “The UCD Moore Centre for Business will allow business students to learn in an environment that celebrates innovation, creativity and adaptability—characteristics we know to be essential for their success in the workforce and as global citizens as we face bold challenges on an unprecedented scale. To help advance our students, we have created the new KPMG Skills Zone - a place which empowers students to develop and enhance their soft and analytical skills with a focus on being future-ready in a rapidly changing business environment. To further support students, we have created a scholarship programme that offers recipients financial support as they discover their academic talents in pursuit of their career goals.”