This panel brings together three individuals who have navigated significant professional transitions, moving across sectors, disciplines, and leadership contexts. We will explore how we construct professional identity, how we make sense of moments of disruption, and how deliberate learning shapes what comes next. The panellists will reflect on what prompted their own transitions, what they carried forward from earlier careers, and what the experience of returning to formal education meant for them.

Tomás O'Leary is a former professional rugby international and current EMBA student at University College Cork, where he also serves as Head of Rugby. During an outstanding playing career, he represented the Ireland national rugby union team while winning a Grand Slam in 2009.  He won two European Cup titles with Munster Rugby and was selected for the British & Irish Lions in 2009, with additional experience in both the UK and French leagues. Since retiring in 2017, Tomas has built a successful career in education and recruitment, bringing his leadership and high-performance mindset from elite sport into the professional world.

Virginia Teehan is an Irish art historian, writer, curator and archivist who has led the Irish Heritage Council (An Comhairle Oidhreachta) as CEO since January 2019.  She completed her EMBA at UCC in 2019 and was elected a member of the Royal Irish Academy in 2022.

John Forde is an accomplished global supply chain executive with more than 30 years of experience across highly regulated pharmaceutical and medical device industries, including extended international assignments. Throughout his career, he has led complex global planning and logistics organisations, directing end‑to‑end demand and supply strategies while managing large‑scale warehousing and distribution networks. He completed his Executive MBA at University College Cork in 2015 and currently serves as Senior Global Distribution Operations Director for a leading multinational life sciences company.

Moderator: Professor Ronan Carbery, EMBA Programme Director.

Date: Friday 27th March

Time: 5-6pm

Venue: The Banking Hall, UCC Centre for Executive Education, Lapps Quay, Cork, T12 VF82