Smurfit MBA – Celebrating 50 Years

L -R Derek Scally, Nobert McDermott, Pat Hurley, Danny O Dea, Tom Saunders, Neil Murphy, Martin Hawkes & Josepht Dundon at MBA 50th Gala dinner at UCD Smurfit Business School, Friday June 17th
L -R Derek Scally, Nobert McDermott, Pat Hurley, Danny O Dea, Tom Saunders, Neil Murphy, Martin Hawkes & Josepht Dundon at MBA 50th Gala dinner at UCD Smurfit Business School, Friday June 17th

UCD was the first university in Ireland, and one of the first in Europe, to offer an MBA in 1964. We are delighted this year to celebrate 50 years since the graduation of the first UCD Smurfit MBA class of 1966.

Since the programme was launched, the MBA at UCD has educated over 3,700 business leaders and entrepreneurs, many of whom are prominent figures in the Irish and international business arenas. UCD MBA programmes are consistently ranked in the top 30 in Europe and in the top 100 globally by the Financial Times and the Economist Intelligence Unit and are the only MBA programmes in Ireland to appear in these prestigious rankings.

L-R: Tanya Kenny, Orla Nugent, Pat Gibbons, Aileen Butler, Brian Marrinan, Avril Donohue, Colin Mc Mahon, Yvonne Harding, Kathy O'Reilly
L-R: Tanya Kenny, Orla Nugent, Pat Gibbons, Aileen Butler, Brian Marrinan, Avril Donohue, Colin Mc Mahon, Yvonne Harding, Kathy O’Reilly

Through the years, the MBA continued to evolve and graduate numbers continued to grow at a rapid rate. Students enrolling in the MBA also became more and more international in origin and today they come from a variety of backgrounds, representing different cultures, industries and expertise. We can proudly state that our MBA graduates occupy key leadership positions within leading organisations around the world.

L- R Jack Hayes, Brian Gregory & Tom Toner at MBA 50th Gala dinner at UCD Smurfit Business School, Friday June 17th
L- R Jack Hayes, Brian Gregory & Tom Toner at MBA 50th Gala dinner at UCD Smurfit Business School, Friday June 17th
MBA 50th Gala dinner at UCD Smurfit Business School, Friday June 17th
MBA 50th Gala dinner at UCD Smurfit Business School, Friday June 17th
MBA 50th Gala dinner at UCD Smurfit Business School, Friday June 17th
MBA 50th Gala dinner at UCD Smurfit Business School, Friday June 17th
MBA 50th Gala dinner at UCD Smurfit Business School, Friday June 17th
MBA 50th Gala dinner at UCD Smurfit Business School, Friday June 17th
L -R Kevin Gallen, Patrick O Sullivan & Stephen Dorman at MBA 50th Gala dinner at UCD Smurfit Business School, Friday June 17th
L -R Kevin Gallen, Patrick O Sullivan & Stephen Dorman at MBA 50th Gala dinner at UCD Smurfit Business School, Friday June 17th

To acknowledge the rich history of the MBA programme and to celebrate its continuing success, we held the MBA 50 years Gala Dinner on June 17th in UCD Michael Smurfit Graduate Business School. It was a fantastic night of reunions and celebrations.

Thanks to all of our MBA Alumni who joined us on the night, for those who couldn’t, you can watch the ‘History of the MBA’ video which was shown on the night below.

Avril Donohue ~ MBA Alumni Relations, Communications & Events