The Teagasc Authority has reappointed Professor Gerry Boyle as Director of Teagasc for a second term.
The appointment, subject to contract, will be for a three year period with the option of a further four years. The Authority approved the appointment, with the consent of the Minister for Agriculture, Food, and the Marine Simon Coveney, at its meeting in Ashtown, Dublin, on Wednesday.
At the end of September, Professor Boyle will have completed his first term as Teagasc Director. Appointed in 2007, Professor Boyle has overseen the integration of advisory, education and research functions in Teagasc into a unique integrated model of research and knowledge transfer.
He has led the implementation of two Teagasc Change Programmes that have streamlined structure and improved the efficiency and effectiveness of the services delivered by the organisation. Over the period the key performance indicators used to measure the productivity and impact of the organisation’s research, advisory and education functions have increased.
Professor Boyle is Emeritus Professor of Economics at the National University of Ireland and was head of the Economics Department at NUI Maynooth. He qualified with a BA from UCD in 1977 and went on to obtain an MA and PhD from UCD. In his early career he worked as a research officer in the Agricultural Institute, now part of Teagasc, becoming a senior research officer in the rural economy division, prior to joining NUI Maynooth. In the early 1980s, while on secondment, he was employed as an economist with the Central Bank of Ireland.
Living in his native Co. Tipperary, Prof Boyle is married and has four children.