Our People

School Offices

• For J.E. Cairnes School of Business & Economics queries click here.
• For School of Law queries click here.
• For Shannon College of Hotel Management queries click here.

College Office

Address: College of Business, Public Policy and Law, Cairnes Building, University of Galway, Galway, University Road, Galway, Ireland.

Wondering where to find us? Consult the University of Galway Interactive Campus Map

T: +353 (0)91 492988.

Executive Assistants (Job Share) 
This role provides essential support in managing administrative tasks for CBPPL's PGR programs, assisting with admissions, registration, curriculum updates, data management and reporting, scholarships, committee secretarial duties, recruitment coordination, funding calls, procurement, and conferring support.

Olivia Noone & Sinead Hernon 
cbppl@universityofgalway.ie

Administrative Assistant 
For queries related to the Executive Dean's diary

Mary O'Malley

mary.m.omalley@universityofgalway.ie

Director of Strategic Development
Padraic De Búrca
padraic.deburca@universityofgalway.ie
T: +353 (0)91 494051.

Finance and Business Manager
Michelle Bermingham
michelle.bermingham@universityofgalway.ie

Head of Strategic Research Awards Life Cycle

Leading the CBPPL Research Support Team with oversight of research funding strategies and proposal supports across the College at all career stages. Assistance with research funding at the planning, budgeting, application, implementation and impact phases.

Jared Gerlach
jared.gerlach@universityofgalway.ie

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Development Officer

Angela Sice
angela.sice@universityofgalway.ie

Learning Technologist

Dr Sergei Medvedev

sergei.medvedev@universityofgalway.ie

Communications Officer
Courtney Yanta
courtney.yanta@universityofgalway.ie

HR Business Partner
Anne Kyne
ann.kyne@universityofgalway.ie

Executive Dean

Professor Geraint Howells

geraint.howells@universityofgalway.ie

Geraint Howells is Executive Dean for Business, Public Policy and Law at University of Galway. Previously he was Professor of Commercial Law and Associate Dean in Humanities for Internationalisation at Manchester University, where he remains a Visiting Professor. He has been Dean of Law at the City University of Hong Kong and Head of the Law Schools in Manchester and Lancaster. His first chair was at Sheffield. He was called to the bar in 2002 through a special route for distinguished academics and was awarded an LLD in 2014. He has published extensively on consumer law, product liability and European private law and was a member of the Acquis Group developing common principles of European contract law and tort law. A former President of the International Association of Consumer Law, he edited the Consumer Law Journal for many years, is on the editorial board of the Journal of Consumer Policy and is Series Editor for Routledge’s Markets and Law series. He has undertaken extensive consultancy for government, the EU and NGOs.

Vice Deans

Vice Dean for Equality, Diversity and Inclusion
Dr Deirdre Curran
deirdre.curran@universityofgalway.ie

Dr Deirdre Curran has been employed as a lecturer in the University of Galway for 25 years. Her main area of teaching surrounds the employment relationship, how it is formed, how it is conducted, and how it might be improved, and her work is informed by her core values of justice, equity, and voice.

Deirdre is a Vice Dean for Diversity, Equity and Inclusion and she also represents the College of Business, Public Policy, and Law, as a Steering Committee member for the University of Sanctuary initiative aimed at making the university a welcome place for refugees, asylum-seekers, and members of our travelling community.

In 2012 Deirdre completed the PG Diploma in mediation at Maynooth University, and she has been involved in mediation research ever since. She was one of the founder members of the Kennedy Institute Workplace Mediation Research Group. (www.kiwmrg.ie)

Deirdre is currently involved in researching the lived experience of hospitality workers in Ireland with a view to highlighting issues and promoting positive change. In 2021 she published a research report entitled ‘Inside Out Hospitality’. http://whitakerinstitute.ie/inside-out-hospitality-a-study-of-working-conditions-in-the-hospitality-sector-in-ireland/. The survey Deirdre designed for this research has been replicated in a number of countries worldwide and has led to the formation of the Global Hospitality Research Alliance [GHRA].

Vice Dean for Graduate Studies
Dr Anna Arstein-Kerslake 
anna.arsteinkerslake@universityofgalway.ie

Dr Anna Arstein-Kerslake is the Vice Dean of Graduate Studies in the College of Business, Public Policy, and Law. She is an international leader in the fields of human rights, disability rights, gender justice, and legal personhood. She has published widely in these areas, including her recent sole-authored books, Restoring Voice to People (Cambridge University Press 2017) and Legal Capacity and Gender (Springer 2020). She has led several large scale research projects as well as law and policy reform initiatives. She has also held various fellowships and visiting scholar posts - including the  Douglas McK. Brown Chair in Law at Peter A. Allard School of Law, University of British Columbia, and a Marie Curie Research Fellowship at University of Galway. Dr Arstein-Kerslake has participated widely in consultation with governments and other bodies, including: World Health Organisation (WHO), United Kingdom Ministry of Justice, Irish Ministry of Justice, Amnesty Ireland, Interights, and Mental Disability Advocacy Center, among others. Notably, she provided support to the United Nations Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities on their General Comment on the right to equal recognition before the law. She holds a PhD in Law from University of Galway, a JD from the City University of New York (CUNY) School of Law, and a BA in Sociology from San Diego State University (SDSU).

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Vice Dean for Internationalisation
Dr Murray Scott
murray.scott@universityofgalway.ie

Dr. Murray Scott is currently Vice Dean of Internationalisation for the College of Business, Public Policy and Law.  He has also served as Head of Discipline for Business Information Systems and also as programme director for the MSc in Business Information Systems/Cloud Computing Research and B.Sc Business Information Systems.  He holds a Bachelor and Masters degree in English and Philosophy from the University of Dundee and completed the Higher Diploma in Systems Analysis and Masters in Commerce from University of Galway.  He was awarded a Ph.D. in the area of eGovernment and Public Value from University of Galway.  Murray has over 18 years of experience in the academic environment, and has previously served as visiting Professor at the Kogod School of Business, American University, Washington DC and as external examiner for Dublin City University.

Murray's research has been published in leading international journals and conferences, including the AIS Senior Scholars' Basket of Journals.  His current research addresses environmental and sustainability challenges by developing innovative technology-driven models for participative, user-centred, public services aiming at creating greener communities e.g.:  https://emergreen.interreg-npa.eu/about-the-project/ 

Vice Dean for Teaching and Learning
Dr Connie Healy
connie.healy@universityofgalway.ie

Connie Healy is the Vice- Dean for Teaching and Learning at the College of Business, Public Policy and Law. She lectures at the Law School, focusing on Company Law/Business Law and Alternative Dispute Resolution at undergraduate level and Legal Skills/ Mooting at Masters level. She has held the position of Programme Director for the LL.M in International and Comparative Business Law Programme and LL.M (General) since their inception in 2018. Her research interests include Conflict Resolution through mediation and arbitration at national and international level. She was appointed to the Department of Justice Family Law Oversight Committee exploring the integration of alternative methods of dispute resolution within the proposed new Family Courts system and has led seminars for the Courts service and Department of Justice on implementing human-centred court reform. Prior to taking up her role in academia, she practised as a litigation solicitor for over fifteen years and is an accredited commercial mediator (CEDR).

Vice Dean for Research
Dr Ekaterina Yahyaoui
ekaterina.yahyaoui@universityofgalway.ie

Prior to joining University of Galway in 2012, Ekaterina taught and researched at the University of Montreal (Canada). Her research focuses on the capacity of human rights and international law to contribute to a more just, diverse, and inclusive world, combining interdisciplinary theoretical interrogation with attention to practical implications of various theories. She is the sole author of five monographs published by leading international publishing houses many articles and book chapters on such topics as gender and human rights, Islam and human rights, legal theory and philosophy of international law to name just a few. In 2016 she was the recipient of University of Galway President’s Award for Research Excellence. On several occasions she was selected as an external expert for the evaluation of various projects within EU Horizon2020 and Horizon Europe Programmes. She was an active member of the European Society of International Law where she was elected to the Coordinating Committee of the Interest Group on International Legal Theory and Philosophy as well as to the role of the Chair of the said group. She is currently a member of the Standing Committee on International Affairs of the Royal Irish Academy. Ekaterina is a former director of Postgraduate Taught Programmes of the Irish Centre for Human Rights and the current Vice-Dean for Research in the College of Business, Public Policy and Law.