Anne Jordan is the manager of the Educational Development Centre, Waterford Institute of Technology. She was educated at the Universities of Keele, Sheffield and the Open University in the UK, and at the National University of Ireland. Current work includes research on the Irish access movement, and staff development for the Irish third level sector where she is designing a Master’s programme in Teaching and Learning.
Ann O’Brien graduated with an Arts degree from University College, Cork. She spent a number of years teaching at second level and progressed into the field of adult and community education. She was awarded a Masters in Adult and Community Education from the National University of Ireland and holds the post of Access Officer in NUI Maynooth with responsibility for developing initiatives and policy in the area of access and disability.
Maeve O’Byrne graduated with an Arts degree from Trinity College, Dublin. For a number of years she worked in educational publishing before moving into adult and community education. She was awarded a Masters in Communication and Cultural Studies from Dublin City University where she currently holds the position of Access Officer. The main focus of her work is developing access strategies for school leavers from disadvantaged areas in North Dublin.
Jacqui O’Riordan is the Director of the Higher Education Equality Unit where she has worked since October 1998. Her background in development studies and sociology has involved Jacqui in research into women’s educational levels in Tanzania and in co–ordinating a Development Studies Programme and lecturing in Social Studies for the Centre for Adult Education in UCC. Her particular areas of interest include education, employment, gender and global development issues. Currently Jacqui is completing a thesis on relationship and work commitments in contemporary Ireland.
Dr. Dervilla Donnelly is the Emiritus Professor of Organic Chemistry, University College, Dublin. Since 1996 Dr. Dervilla Donnelly has been Chair of the Dublin Institute for Advanced Studies. She is also Chair of the Interim Review Group for Institutions in the Technological Sector since 1997. Her interest in Science is reflected in her involvement as Chair of the Evaluation Committee OECD Programme–Megascience Forum, Council Member of the Royal Irish Academy, Member of the Standing Committee of ESF, Life and Environmental Science Committee, and Physical and Engineering Science Committee.
Dr. Don Thornhill is Chair of the Higher Education Authority (HEA). Prior to his appointment to the HEA he was Secretary General of the Department of Education and Science from 1993 to 1998. He was previously an Assistant Secretary in the Office of the Revenue Commissioners in Dublin and has also worked in the Departments of Finance and Foreign Affairs and in the Unilever organisation. He is a graduate of UCD (B.Sc. and Ph.D (Chemistry)) and TCD (M.Sc.(Econ.)). During 1987 he was a Fulbright Scholar at the Brookings Institute in Washington DC. He is a council member of the Irish Management Institute and is Honorary Treasurer and council member of the Statistical and Social Inquiry Society of Ireland.
In 1982 Dr. Rosemary Hamilton became part–time Staff Tutor in Science and Technology at the Open University, a post that was upgraded to full–time status in 1986. She became Regional Director of the Open University in Region 12 in 1992.
Professor Jarlath Ronayne is Vice–President and President of Victoria University, Australia. He was educated at Trinity College Dublin, graduating with first–class honours in Chemistry in 1965; and at the University of Cambridge where he graduated with a PhD. in Organic Chemistry in 1968. He has published four books and has written numerous articles on scientific research and on science policy studies.
Link to Professor Ronayne's paper
Dr. Maureen Gaffney is the Chair of the National Economic and Social Forum (NESF). She has also recently been appointed by the Government as Chair of the National Monitoring Committee for the Programme for Revitalising Areas by Planning, Investment and Development under the National Development Plan. She was a Law Reform Commissioner from 1986 to 1996 and a Senior Lecturer and Director of the Doctoral Programme in Clinical Psychology in Trinity College Dublin for many years. She is a Council Member of the Economic and Social Research Institute (ESRI) and of the Insurance Ombudsman of Ireland Council. She works in private practice as a consultant on issues relating to human resources, leadership and the management of change. She is a well–known broadcaster and writer. She was educated at University College Cork, the University of Chicago and Trinity College Dublin.
Dr. Alan Wagner is Principle Administrator, Directorate for Education, Employment, Labour and Social Affairs, Organisation for Economic Co–operation and Development (OECD). He was a member of the Secretariat team which co–ordinated the first stage of the OECD’s twelve–country thematic review of the first years of tertiary education and prepared the comparative report, Redefining Tertiary Education (OECD, 1998). Dr. Wagner received his A.B. (with distinction) from the University of Michigan and his M.A. and Ph.D. from the University of Illinois, all in Economics.
Brendan Butler began his career in the Public Sector working in various Government Departments including Health, Social Welfare and the Office of the Revenue Commissioners. He joined IBEC in 1988 and spent 5 years as an Industrial Relations Executive. He was appointed Director of the Small Firms Association in 1993 and over the next five years the SFA has become one of Ireland’s best known and effective lobby groups. In 1998 he was appointed as IBEC’s Director of Social Policy. He holds a B.Comm from UCD and a Masters of Economics from TCD.
Link to Brendan Butler's paper
Mike Egan was Co–ordinator of the Centre for Lifelong Learning in Dublin City University. He is Vice–President of AONTAS, the National Association of Adult Education and a member of the Lifelong Learning Advisory Group of the Information Society Commission. A former council member of the National Council for Educational Awards and Education Officer with the Union of Students in Ireland, he is co–chair of the Darndale/Belcamp Discovery Centre Management Committee. As a mature student, he graduated in Communication Studies in DCU and is currently completing his MSc. in Education and Training Management there. His MSc. thesis is on the role of the university as a regional catalyst for lifelong learning.
Professor Bob Osborne is currently Professor of Applied Policy Studies at the University of Ulster and Co–Director of the Centre for Research on Higher Education (a joint Centre of the University of Ulster and Queen’s University Belfast). He is also a member of the Equality Commission for Northern Ireland. His recent publications include: Higher Education In Ireland: North and South, and articles in Higher Education Policy, Higher Education Quarterly. He has just completed a study of graduate careers, four years after graduation and an evaluation of the HEA’s Targeted Initiative on Widening Access.
Anne Ryan is a lecturer in Adult and Community Education at NUIM. Over a period of fifteen years before coming to Maynooth she lived and worked in Zambia, China and Australia. She has maintained her links with these continents by combining her lecturing work with short term education–related consultancies in Africa and Asia. Her particular area of interest is education to promote sustainable community development. Central to this concern is the creation of an educational system that is inherently inclusive rather than elitist and that has the capacity to provide learning opportunities to meet the diverse needs of different sectors of the population.
Carloine McGrath is at present Director of AHEAD. In 1997 she was appointed a Member of the Governing Authority, University of Limerick.
Link to Caroline McGrath's paper
Dr. Venie Martin is Head of Development at Waterford Institute of Technology and was formerly Head of Adult and Continuing Education there. She has been involved in a number of European projects in relation to access initiatives. Her major commitment is to lifelong learning: she is a member of the NCEA’s Lifelong Learning Committee and formerly of the 1996 Year of Lifelong Learning Committee. More recently, she is a member of the Government Task Force on Lifelong Learning, the IBEC Committee on Lifelong Learning and is on the Board of Waterford Area Partnership. She has a keen interest in childcare as an important aspect of student support.