Ann Riordan appointed as chairperson of Science Foundation Ireland

Minister for Research and Innovation Seán Sherlock TD said their appointments would bring “fresh industry perspective” to the work performed at board level in order to enable SFI to meet its Agenda 2020 objectives.

Riordan said: “I am particularly excited about the role SFI can play in enabling Ireland to gain international global advantage in the areas where Ireland has research and industry strengths and further potential.

“As an early evangelist of the economic benefits that knowledge based industries can contribute to the country’s prosperity, I am committed to working with the board, the executive and the Government to realise SFI’s vision.”

An experienced board member, Riordan has held a number of senior positions in the ICT sector.

Notably she established Microsoft Ireland in 1990 and was instrumental in establishing the Fastrack to IT initiative which has to date trained over 12,000 long-term unemployed people.
She has served on the Information Society Steering Committee and the Irish Council for Science, Technology & Innovation.

Since her retirement from Microsoft she has served as: president of the Institute of Directors in Ireland; chairman of the National Standards Authority of Ireland; chairman of Tourism Ireland; chairman of the Dublin Regional Tourism Authority and as a public interest director of the EBS Building Society.

Ruane has held the position of chief executive at Ordnance Survey Ireland and a number of senior positions in multinational companies in the pharmaceutical and financial services sectors.

Donnelly is chief executive of ServeCentric, the largest data centre in Ireland. Over the past two decades he has held a number of senior positions in the ICT sector in Ireland. He is also the current chair of the National Oil Reserve Agency and since 1990 has served on the boards of a number of multinational companies.