Michael Ryan appointed Emeritus Professor in School of Computing

DCU has appointed Professor Michael Ryan as an Emeritus Professor within the School of Computing. Professor Ryan has been associated with DCU since its inception as NIHE Dublin in 1980. He led the School of Computing for 16 years and steered the development of DCU's flagship computing degree, the BSc in Computer Applications, as well as promoting the School's research base and industry engagement.

Professor Ryan has been closely involved in the development of the software industry in Ireland, and served on several key committees which helped define the current Irish software industry, including:

• The Consultative Committee on Software, which advised the Government on the development of the software industry in the 1990s and led to the establishment of the National Software Directorate.
• The Irish Council for Science, Technology and Innovation (1998-2001), which led to the establishment of Science Foundation Ireland.

He was the initial Director of the Centre for Software Engineering at DCU and set up the Centre for Teaching Computing jointly with the University of Ulster, to promote and assist cooperation in computing education at third level, and the Irish Tech Corps, to facilitate the use of computers at primary and second levels. He has served on various committees on computing education in Europe and the USA. His work with industry has led to new products and a number of patents, and he is joint author of one book and a number of research papers.

In recognition of his significant contribution to the software industry, Professor Ryan was one of the initial three recipients of the Irish Computer Society's Distinguished Fellow Award in 2004.

Commenting on Professor Ryan's appointment as Emeritus Professor, Professor Heather Ruskin and Dr David Sinclair, Acting Heads of the School of Computing, said "We are delighted with Michael's appointment. He has exercised a huge influence on computing as a discipline both within DCU and Ireland. His continued involvement will provide the university with a major source of insight and advice and will ensure that DCU's computing degrees remain relevant to the needs of the Irish software industry."