Deputy President and Registrar's Executive Group

Professor Pól Ó Dochartaigh is Deputy President and Registrar of the University. A member of the University Management Team, Academic Council and the University’s Governing Authority, Údarás na hOllscoile, he deputises for the President in his absence. In his role Pól has overarching responsibility for academic strategy, academic promotions, and academic quality. He chairs the University’s Teaching and Learning Committee, the Academic Promotions Committee, the Quality Enhancement Committee, among other committees in the University. Externally, he chairs the Board of the Central Admissions Office (CAO), is a member of the Senate of the NUI, and a member of the board of Coláiste na Coiribe in Galway City. A native of Belfast, Pól holds a BA (Hons) in German from the University of Wales (Cardiff) and a BA (Hons) in Irish from Ulster University, as well as a PhD and a DLitt in German from Nottingham University. He is a Member of the Royal Irish Academy, a Fellow of the Royal Historical Society, and a Fellow of the Higher Education Academy. He has served as President of the Association for German Studies in Great Britain and Ireland (2011-14) and Chair of the Royal Irish Academy's Committee for Modern Language, Literary and Cultural Studies (2004-9). Pól has worked on the legacy of the Holocaust, the German involvement in Celtic Studies and, more recently, on Jews in Irish literature and history. He has published five monographs, six edited collections and over forty articles and chapters.

John Cox has been University Librarian since 2009 and is responsible for leading the development and implementation of Library strategy in alignment with University priorities, including a transformation of the Library building as a key teaching and learning facility. He has a particular interest in digital libraries, open research and scholarly communications. Projects led include digitisation of the Abbey and Gate Theatre archives at the University of Galway and Irish consortium negotiations with publishers aimed at increasing open access to Irish research publications. His publications include review articles on communicating new library roles to enable digital scholarship and positioning the academic library in the institution. He has also written opinion pieces on publishing academic research and on open science. He is Chair of the Irish Universities Association Librarians Group a member of the Consortium of National and University Libraries (CONUL).

  Director, Student Services

John Hannon was appointed as Director of Student Services in 2015. The role of the Director is to provide leadership in the integration of the student services functions and for the provision of high quality and comprehensive non-academic support and wellbeing services for students. The Director works with the Dean of Students to ensure appropriate working partnerships are in place with colleagues, students, and external stakeholders, in order to enable the effective realisation of the University’s strategic aspirations regarding the student experience. The units that come under the domain of Student Services include the Access Centre, Accommodation and Welfare, the Career Development Centre, Chaplaincy, Student Counselling, the Societies Office, the Student Health Unit and the University Crèche. John has worked for over twenty years in higher education, including roles as a tutor, lecturer, careers adviser and Head of the Career Development Centre. He is former Chair of the Association of Higher Education Careers Services in Ireland and is an Executive Member of Student Affairs Ireland. John studied in the University of Galway (BA and HDE), UCD (DCG) and University of Warwick (MA CEIGHE), where he received the John Roberts Memorial Prize for the student who has produced the most outstanding work during the academic year.

Mike is Director of Sport and Physical activity with responsibility for the strategic leadership and management of the sporting programmes to develop and deliver student sport, health and wellbeing. The role includes the development and management of sporting infrastructure to sustain the sport and physical activities programmes of the university into the future. Prior to taking up his role, Mike worked in both Sports and the private sector, as CEO with Hockey Ireland, High Performance Manager with Rowing Ireland and Operations Manager with both national and international service companies. Mike has held a number of directorship within the Sport and Services Sector. He has coached and managed at international level including World Championship and Olympic Games. As an athlete he competed in rowing, swimming, water polo, sailing and rugby, winning a number of national titles and represented Ireland.

Dr. Iain MacLaren is the Director of the Centre for Excellence in Learning & Teaching (CELT), which spans a range of responsibilities including technologies to support teaching and learning (whether in the classroom or online), the professional development of academic staff, teaching and learning policy and strategy, and research and scholarship in higher education. Prior to taking up this role, he taught and researched in a number of universities in Scotland and England, and his own disciplinary background is in Astrophysics (BSc(Hons) Edinburgh, PhD Durham) which broadened also to atmospheric physics, advanced computing techniques, multimedia technologies, and education. He has participated in, and led, a number of national and international projects related both to professional development and learning technologies. He was a founding Board member of the National Forum for the Enhancement of Teaching & Learning, is currently a Principal Fellow of the Higher Education Academy/AdvanceHE, and writes and publishes in the field, most recently in Reflective Teaching in Higher Education (1st and 2nd Editions, Bloomsbury) which is a core text for many Postgraduate programmes in teaching and learning.

Michelle is Director of Strategy and Planning in the Office of the Deputy President and Registrar, leading University-wide projects related to the delivery of its strategic academic mission. Prior to her appointment to this new role, she previously held the position of Institutional Press & Information Officer at the University of Galway. Michelle has over 20 years’ experience in public administration, communications and in corporate governance. She was an elected member of Údarás na hOllscoile from 2009 – 2013 and was a member of its Committee for Strategic Initiatives and External Affairs. She is currently serving her second term on the Board of TG4 where she served as interim Chair to the Board in 2017. She previously served on its Audit and Finance Committee and is current Chair of its Brand and Marketing Committee. In 2018 she was invited onto the Board of Macnas and is a previous board member of Volunteer Galway.  Michelle holds an MA in Business (IMI/UCC), MA in Media Studies (UL), HDip in Arts Administration (University of Galway), HDip Applied Project Management (IPM/UCC), and BMus (UCC).

Oifigeach Gaeilge

Caroline Ní Fhlatharta  was appointed the University of Galway’s first ever Irish Language Officer in October 2021.  This appointment  is a key part of the University’s inaugural Irish Language Strategy - A Strategy for the Irish Language 2021-25.  Caroline will support this Strategy and our vision to develop and foster a sustainable bilingual environment and promote our language across University life and the the University of Galway community, as well as in the Gaeltacht and Irish language communities.  Caroline holds an MA (Adult Learning and Development), a BA (Applied Irish), a Diploma in Irish and a Diploma in Business Technologies from the University of Galway, as well as a Postgraduate Certificate in Adult Learning Guidance and Theories from Maynooth University.  She facilitated the first ever LIFT Leadership Programme in the country  through Irish with the University of Galway staff members and won a LIFT Leadership Award for Innovation and Adaptability.  A native speaker from Connemara, Caroline joined the University of Galway in 2005 and had worked with TG4 prior to that. 

Sinéad currently holds the role of Director of Quality having been appointed to the role in the summer of 2019.  She has eighteen years’ experience in the areas of governance, audit, risk management, and strategic management.  She has seven years’ experience in the higher education sector having worked as Internal Auditor with the University of Galway, playing a central role in the public accountability process by providing assurance to the Governing Authority on the internal control and risk management frameworks within the University.  She also worked as Finance Manager for the Insight Centre for Data Analytics.  Sinéad is the former Ard Stiúrthóir of the Camogie Association, a national sporting organisation comprising 600 clubs and a network of almost 100,000 members. Sinéad is a member of the Quality Enhancement Committee, Academic Council and Academic Council Standing Committees and previously served on the University’s Audit Committee and Risk Management Group. Sinéad has a Bachelor of Science in Accounting from the University of Scranton and Masters in Accounting from UCD.  She is a Fellow Chartered Accountant.

Michelle O’Dowd Lohan is the University of Galway’s inaugural Community and University Sustainability Officer. Appointed in September 2019, this is a senior leadership position that supports the Deputy President and Registrar to further the aims of the Community and University Sustainability Partnership (CUSP). CUSP aims to make the University of Galway a top-class, green, smart and healthy campus by embedding sustainability into teaching learning, operational and wider outreach activities. Michelle is an Environmental Science graduate from the University of Galway.  She went on to complete a Higher Diploma in Education before attending Queen’s University, Belfast where she completed an MSc in Environmental Engineering. Michelle previously worked as a Sustainability Research Associate with the Ryan Institute, University of Galway.  Her research interests include sustainability relating to education and health sectors.  Prior to her time at the University of Galway Michelle worked for 12 years as the Environmental & Waste Management Co-ordinator with Galway University Hospitals.