Archives: Awardees

John Bell is the ‘Healthy Planet’ Director of DG Research and Innovation at the European Commission in Brussels. As Director of European Commission DG Research and Innovation, since his appointment in 2014 John has been the leader in the development of the potential of the Bioeconomy.

He is paving the way for a more innovative, resource efficient and competitive society that reconciles food security with sustainable use of renewable resources whilst ensuring environmental protection. He is responsible for leading the Research and Innovation transitions on Climate Change within Planetary Boundaries, Bioeconomy, Food Systems, Environment and Biodiversity, Oceans and Arctic, Circular Economy, Water and Bio-based innovations.This includes harnessing the investments of 10bn Horizon Europe, Circular Bioeconomy, the EU Bioeconomy Strategy, and Governing Board of 3.7bn in Bio-based Industries Joint Undertaking.

Until 2019, he was Director of Bioeconomy, delivered the EU Bioeconomy Strategy, and policy initiatives including FOOD2030 and the Atlantic Ocean Research Alliance. Through this transformative impact on research and innovation in Europe, John has contributed to the development of solutions to global challenges.  Before his role with Healthy Planet, John was the Chief de Cabinet of the European Commissioner for Research, Innovation and Science, Máire Geoghegan-Quinn.

Colin Ryan, one of Goldman Sachs’ top investment bankers in its technology, media and telecom group in San Francisco, joined the investment bank giant after his graduation from UCD. He is based in the San Francisco Bay Area and is Co-Head of Mergers and Acquisitions: Americas.

He was named Managing Director in 2010 and in 2014 he was one of two Irishmen inducted to the partnership of Goldman Sachs. During his tenure, Goldman Sachs’ Technology Mergers and Acquisitions business has consistently ranked as the #1 Technology M&A franchise globally.  During his time in both the London and San Francisco Goldman Sachs’ offices, Colin has helped advise some of the most iconic companies on their most important strategic transactions in the technology and media industry, including Amazon, Applied Materials, IBM, Qualcomm, Salesforce, SAP and Vodafone, on over $300 billion of industry-defining transactions.

Earlier this year he was a recipient of the Ireland Funds Distinguished Leadership Award for 2019 in recognition of his philanthropy and remarkable business achievements, noted as being a powerful example of Ireland’s diaspora giving back and investing in Ireland’s future, with a particular interest in education and supporting disadvantaged communities and supporting at-risk individuals.

A senior figure at Microsoft, Noelle Walsh leads the Cloud Operations and Innovations operation, a role that includes supply planning and strategic acquisition as well as global construction and data centre operations. Previously, she spent 25 years with the Dow Chemical Company, where she worked across multiple businesses. Throughout her career, Noelle has been at the forefront of technological advances and has led initiatives to advance women’s leadership in Europe and the USA.

Noelle was a co-founder of Dow’s Women’s Innovation Network (WIN) in the Netherlands and served as co-chair of WIN in North America. In 2013, The Manufacturing Institute recognized her with the Women in Manufacturing STEP (Science, Technology, Engineering and Production) Award. During her time at the Dow Company, Noelle led over 25% of its Manufacturing base, the Chemicals Division of businesses and Global Supply Chain and Customer Service functions.

Noelle has worked extensively around the world, running large scale commodity businesses and manufacturing facilities to leading major strategic divestitures and integrating acquisitions. Noelle’s trademark is working with teams to unleash best-in-class performance and an operational excellence mindset for businesses at scale.

The Belfast native was the global Chief Operating Officer for KPMG International, having retired in September 2019. During his time with KPMG, he ran the US tax practice and through his leadership KPMG served a long list of blue-chip American corporations.

Over the course of his career, Shaun has held numerous leadership roles within KPMG including leader of the Global Transaction Services Practice, Vice Chair in charge of KPMG’s U.S. Tax practice and Regional Head of the Americas Tax practice, Vice Chair–Operations for KPMG in the US and Chief Operating officer of KPMG’s Americas region. He was also Co-Chair of KPMG’s Disabilities Network and a member of KPMG’s Inclusion and Diversity Advisory Board.

Through his various roles and his extensive work serving a broad range of significant U.S. companies which span several industries, Shaun has keen insights regarding strategic and operational issues as well as marketplace trends and the issues companies face in today’s global environment. He is on the board of the Ireland Funds America and the Irish Arts Centre in New York and he is the chair of the Northern Ireland US Advisory Council for the East Coast.

An astute observer of the international contemporary art scene and an outstanding curator, the first female director of Dublin’s Hugh Lane Gallery, Dr Barbara Dawson has been one of the most significant figures in the Irish art world in recent decades. In her role, Barbara has led transformative changes for the Hugh Lane and has been a leading advocate for the visual arts in Ireland, she has overseen a major expansion to house its new treasures that attracts visitors from all over the world.

Under Barbara’s leadership, the gallery has committed to enhancing its collections, to organising diverse and challenging exhibitions and to building on its dynamic and inclusive learning programmes, working both in house and within the communities. In 1998, she secured the gift of Francis Bacon’s Studio and Archive and relocated it from London to Dublin where it opened to the public in 2001. Barbara is adjunct professor at UCD’s School of Art History and is also a notable mentor to the women who have followed in her footsteps at other Irish museums.