PRESS RELEASE - NCAD Appoints Acting Director

Update on NCAD Director Appointment Process

8th February 2016

The National College of Art and Design has announced that Mr Bernard Hanratty has been appointed as Acting Director of the College.

The College has adopted a three-stage process in filling the post of Director, vacated by Professor Declan McGonagle who retired at the end of December 2015. Following the short-term appointment of Dr Gary Granville as Interim Director, the board of NCAD has now completed the second stage, the recruitment of Acting Director, Mr Bernard Hanratty.

The Acting Director will oversee the day-to-day running of the College, with particular emphasis on financial, organisational and governance issues that continue to be priority work streams for the NCAD.

In the meantime the board is progressing the third stage of the process – its search for a permanent director. The acting post will allow for adequate time to carefully consider this critical appointment. It is envisaged that the permanent director will be in place in 2017.

Mr Hanratty is a former Managing Director of Investor Services at Citigroup. In that position, he undertook significant change management roles as well as developing extensive financial and governance expertise.

Mr Hanratty represents an innovative choice in an innovative institution and the board believes he has the personality to lead staff and students through the next phase of the College’s development. The board was impressed with Mr Hanratty’s understanding of the issues facing the College, his fresh thinking and his vision and ambition for the its future.

At the end of his relatively short tenure, it is expected that the College will present a very attractive proposition for a world-class director who will lead NCAD as one of the top art and design colleges in the world. Mr Hanratty’s appointment commences on March 1st and is expected to last nine months.

Speaking of his role, Mr Hanratty said: “I am very pleased to have the opportunity to work with the historic and culturally significant institution that is NCAD. The focus on finance and governance matters will be balanced with a commitment to the interests of staff and students.”

ENDS
Contact: Emily Brennan, DHR Communications, 086-1658629


Notes to Editor:

About Mr Bernard Hanratty:
Bernard Hanratty is as a change management consultant, a non-executive director and a tech start-up entrepreneur in the field of corporate governance. He retired in September 2014 after a 30 year career with the US bank Citigroup where he was Managing Director, Investor Services, EMEA. While at Citigroup he held operations, product, sales and relationship management roles.

Bernard is a creative and engaging leader, who thrives on the execution of large change management programmes. His leadership style is to listen to stakeholders to assess the status quo, to develop a vision for the organisation and to structure a plan that empowers those stakeholders to achieve that vision.