Dr Jennifer Brennan

💙💛 UCD appoints its first Vice-President for Strategy and External Engagement Triona McCormack has been named as the first Vice-President for Strategy and External Engagement at University College Dublin. In the role, Triona will provide leadership and connectivity in the development and implementation of the University’s strategic plan and its external engagement activities. Reporting directly to the UCD President, as the Vice-President for Strategy and External Engagement, Triona will be a member of the University Management Team. She will work closely with the President and the University’s academic and administrative leadership to shape the University’s future direction, build its reputation, and foster and strengthen its engagement with national and international partners and stakeholders. 🗣️ UCD President Professor Orla Feely: “Triona has an outstanding track record of developing strategy, delivering change and building relationships with internal and external stakeholders.  I am delighted that she will now take up the role of UCD Vice-President for Strategy and External Engagement." "UCD is entering a very exciting phase. The direction we take over the next decisive decade will chart UCD's future course as one of Europe's great universities delivering real positive transformation and impact on society both nationally and globally," said Triona McCormack on her new appointment. "I look forward to working with the entire University community, and all our stakeholders and partners, so together we can deliver on the enormous potential of this great university." Triona is currently director of research at UCD where she is responsible for research strategy,development and operations. She has been in this post for the past nine years and during her time in the role UCD has significantly increased its funding for research, developed leading positions in national research centres and trebled its funding from the EU. She has led on many of the University’s strategic partnerships with academic and industry partners and is a key point of contact for national and international agencies and governments. She also co-Chairs UCD’s strategic theme Creating a Sustainable Global Society. Prior to this, Triona was director of institutes and major programmes at UCD where she led the development of large-scale interdisciplinary initiatives and UCD’s Research Institutes. Before joining UCD, she was the country lead for human capital consulting and head of the organisational effectiveness practice at Hudson Highland. In this role, she worked with organisations to translate from strategy to implementable action plans in a broad range of sectors including banking, telecommunications, public utilities and services. Triona was appointed by the Ministers of Foreign Affairs and Agriculture, Food and the Marine to the Taskforce on Rural Africa and subsequently to the Irish Africa Rural Development Committee. She is currently Chair of the Higher Education and Research Committee of the British Irish Chamber and a co-Chair of the Science Summit at the United Nations General Assembly. She is a graduate of mechanical engineering in UCD and Case Western Reserve University in the US. Triona McCormack will take up her new post on 1st January 2024.