UCD’s Professor David FitzPatrick to become first president of Technological University Dublin

TU Dublin, the first technological university in the State, will come into being next year, and involves a merger of Dublin Institute of Technology (DIT), IT Blanchardstown and IT Tallaght.

Prof FitzPatrick’s appointment as president designate was announced by Education Minister  Joe McHugh and junior minister  for higher  education, Mary Mitchell O’Connor.

Prof FitzPatrick is currently the Principal, College of Engineering and Architecture and Dean of Engineering, UCD and Provost of the Beijing-Dublin International College, a joint venture between UCD and Beijing University of Technology.

He was appointed to the prestigious €186,000 a year post after an international search. The job comes with accommodation at the flagship Grangegorman campus, which will fully open in September 2020

The salary is in line with what is paid to the presidents of the University of Limerick, Dublin City University and Maynooth University, the second pay band for this role. The top band is €197,117.

TU Dublin will become the largest higher education institution in the State with almost 28,000 students and over 3,000 staff.  It will have campuses at Grangegorman, on the north side of the city,  Blanchardstown and Tallaght as well as a “virtual” campus.

About 10,000 of the  students  will be in Grangegorman.

Legislation allowing for TU Dublin passed earlier this year, paving the way for the formal start in January.

Moves are underway  for the creation of other technological  universities, through mergers of cluster of  institutes of  technology around the  country.