2020 - 2029
Honorary Citation by Dr Rónán Ó Dubhghaill for Richard (Dick) P. Lehane
A uachtarán na hollscoile, a shainsailéar, a dhaoine uaisle agus a chairde go léir, is an-onóir dom cúpla focal a rá faoi Risteárd Ó Liathán ar an ócáid suntasach seo.
President of UCC, chancellor of the National University of Ireland, graduates, visitors and friends, it is an honour to be invited to provide the citation for Dick Lehane for his honorary degree conferring.
Dick Lehane’s story begins in January 1947 on Blarney Street, Cork the second eldest of six children born to Michael and Eileen Lehane. His father, having lost his own father at a young age, began work at Ford Motor Company at just 15, while his mother was a music teacher working from the family home. This foundation of family would guide Dick throughout his life.
He attended school at the North Monastery, where he excelled academically and in sport. His passion for hurling began while at primary school, laying the groundwork for a lifelong connection to the game and the community around it. After completing his leaving certificate in 1964, Dick was awarded a County Council scholarship to UCC where he chose to study Electrical Engineering.
His college years were marked by academic and sporting success. Dick played for Blackrock, becoming a key player on the first minor Blackrock team to win the county championship. As a first-year student at UCC, he made the Fitzgibbon Cup senior hurling panel, winning two medals by the time he graduated, playing at corner forward in the victorious 1968 team.
In 1968, Dick’s career began in earnest when General Electric recruited him for a role in the US, but not before he helped Cork to victory in the under 21 All-Ireland Final against Kilkenny.
Over the years, Dick lived in 8-year chapters—each marked by growth, career progression, a growing family, and an enduring love of sport. Even as he travelled and worked abroad, Dick’s connection to Cork and to his family remained unwavering. In 1969, while back in Ireland with a New York based, Cork ex-pat hurling team selection, he married Mary in the Honan Chapel here in UCC.
Dick and Mary returned to Ireland in 1976, at this stage accompanied by sons Terry and Mike, and Dick held key roles firstly with Krupps Electronics in Limerick and subsequently in 1980 with Wang Laboratories, also in Limerick. Dick spent 8 years with Wang Laboratories, the last two heading up a Wang start-up in Shannon, Wang International Finance Leasing. While in Limerick, he pursued his own professional development and was awarded an MBA from University College Galway and a Masters in Management Science from Trinity College Dublin.
Yet like every true Cork person, Dick’s wish was always to return home. In 1988, answering an ad in the Cork Examiner, he found his calling at EMC as the first employee and General Manager of EMC Ireland based at Ovens, Co. Cork. Dick landed home to Cork, to Glasheen, now also with sons Ronan and Steve.
Dick’s leadership at EMC Ireland was transformational. Starting with just 15 or so employees, Dick built EMC’s first venture outside Massachusetts from the ground up to what would become one of the most significant technology manufacturing operations in Europe, employing over 2,000 people and becoming responsible for 40% of the company’s global revenues. By 1996, Dick had transformed the initial manufacturing site into a multi-function campus with international logistics, customer service, software engineering and an international executive briefing centre amongst other activities.
He created an innovative, ‘can-do’, family-like culture based on trust and focussed on delivery and taking action. Dick always put his staff first and he backed his team to the hilt. He actively encouraged and enabled staff professional development through the collaborative partnerships he forged with higher education institutions and universities. Together with Colm Condon, Dick’s first hire and Director of Human Resources, they developed a unique partnership with Cork Institute of Technology, now MTU, where degree courses were co-developed and taught on-site.
In this time Dick led from the front, while maintaining an extraordinary connection with staff at all levels. The result was an unwavering commitment to Dick as a leader and to EMC as an organisation that, worked hard and played hard and delivered results.
His approach—marked by integrity, mentorship, a collaborative and partnership spirit—left a legacy that extended far beyond the bottom line. In that time Dick was promoted to Vice President, an exceptional honour for someone outside EMC’s US headquarters.
In 1996, Dick was promoted once more, to EMC’s Senior Vice President of Global Manufacturing and Supply Chain and relocated back to Massachusetts. In this role he oversaw EMC’s global operations, led multiple global plants scaling them during a time of explosive growth.
Dick encouraged and greated deep collaboration across his international teams. His real gift lay in his ability to bring people together—to build trust, foster innovation, and ensure that every person, from the production floor to the boardroom, felt seen and valued.
Dick never forgot his roots or those who mentored him nor those who he, in turn, mentored and inspired. He believed that leadership was about visibility, listening, and creating an environment where everyone worked together, no matter the challenge.
But Dick’s contributions extend far beyond the corporate world and his passion for community and education never waned. Since retiring, Dick has arguably been more active than ever — active in service to others.
He has been a cornerstone of UCC’s entrepreneurship ecosystem through his tireless leadership of the IGNITE programme, which enables recent graduates of any discipline, from any higher education institution, to become a company founder and start and grow their own business. He has helped to create more than 300 jobs, raise over €27 million in funding, and build a new generation of innovators who are shaping the future of Cork, Ireland, and beyond.
Dick has also given back through his long-standing involvement with Blackrock Hurling Club, serving on the Student Success Committee of the Governing Authority of UCC, and chairing the Board of Management of the North Monastery for 15 years. His generosity of spirit is evident in initiatives like the Lehane Scholarship, which provides access to higher education for students in disadvantaged areas.
He has served on the board of Cork Airport Authority, as a non-executive director of Wisetek, and as a member of the National Strategy Group for Higher Education setting out the long-term plan for universities and the higher education sector in Ireland. These roles, taken together, show the breadth and depth of his commitment to society, public service and education.
Ach inniu aithnimíd Dick as an saol ilgnéitheach a bhí aige go dtí seo, as an tionchar dearfach a bhí, agus atá, aige ar phobal Corcaigh, ar phobal na tíre, ar cúrsaí gnóth idirnáisiúnta, agus as a shuim I ndaoine, agus a chumas cabhrú le daoine eile agus deiseanna a chruthú dóibh. Agus ní amháin sin ach as an slí go ndeachaigh sé i ngleic leis na gníomhachtaí seo, gan aird ar féin. Gan aon amhras, laoch inar measc.
Dick has been honoured before — including a UCC Alumni Achievement Award and Cork Chamber’s Outstanding Achievement in Business Award.
But today, we gather not simply to acknowledge a list of accomplishments, but to celebrate a career to date lived in the service of education, community and innovation. We honour him for his unwavering commitment to family and to Cork; for his leadership in global business, his contributions to education and sport, and his tireless advocacy for creating opportunities for those in greatest need.
For these reasons and many more, I am proud to nominate Dick Lehane for the conferring of an honorary doctorate by University College Cork. Please join me in celebrating a man whose impact extends from the hurling pitch to the global stage and back to Cork—Dick Lehane.
Praehonorabilis Cancellarie, totaque Universitas. Praesento vobis hunc meum filium, quem scio tam moribus quam doctrina habilem et idoneum esse qui admittatur, honoris causa, ad gradum Doctoratus in Scientia Ingeniaria; idque tibi fide mea testor ac spondeo, totique Academiae