President's Biography

Prof. Ciarán Ó Catháin is President of Athlone Institute of Technology (AIT), the only third level institution in the midlands of Ireland, a role he has held since 2000. A graduate of Dublin Institute of Technology; Trinity College, Dublin and the University of Ulster, Prof. Ó Catháin holds a doctorate in management from the University of Ulster.

Prior to his appointment in AIT, Prof. Ó Catháin was Director of the Northern Ireland Hotel and Catering College, and was previously employed with the Schiller University in Strasburg as Residential and Finance Director. As well as being a Fellow of the Irish Hotel and Catering Institute (IHCI), he is a Fellow of Hotel and Catering International Management Association (HCIMA). A former council member of the IHCI, Prof. Ó Catháin was a founder member of Hospitality Ireland.

Prof. Ó Catháin has held a number of leadership roles with the European Hotel and Tourism Schools Association (President 1994-1997 and Vice-President 1997-2000). He is also a former Chairman of the Council of Directors of the Institutes of Technology. In addition, he was convener (2007-2009) for Líonra, the network of higher education institutions in the Border, Midlands and Western (BMW) region of Ireland.

Committed to the value of regional development, Prof. Ó Catháin has championed the commercial, industrial, social and cultural development of the Midlands. He was President of the Midlands Gateway Chamber Council for the towns of Athlone, Tullamore and Mullingar until May 2009. As Chair and Co-patron of the Commission for Justice and Social Affairs in the Diocese of Ardagh and Clonmacnois, he has guided initiatives on interculturalism and fair trade.

A strong advocate for the internationalisation of Irish higher education, he is a member of the government’s high level group on international education. In addition, Prof. Ó Catháin is a visiting professor at the Capital University of Economics and Business, Beijing and an academic advisor to the University Malayisa Perlis.