The RDS has appointed top Trinity official Geraldine Ruane as its new chief executive officer (CEO) from 2021 onwards.
As CEO, Ruane will, according to the RDS, manage its “commercial interests, including its well-known venue operations, office lettings and campus development, as well as the significant work undertaken by the RDS Foundation, the RDS Members’ Club and the Dublin Horse Show”.
As Chief Operating Officer of Trinity, Ruane led the Corporate Services Division, overseeing the College’s services and systems.
Appointed in 2013, Ruane changed the College’s operational infrastructure, developing and implementing innovations in how Trinity manages its commercial revenue and corporate governannce.
She also chaired the steering committee for Trinity Technology and Enterprise Campus, College’s planned €1 billion capital investment project in the Grand Canal Quay, which will be developed over the next 10 years.
In a press statement, Ruane said: “The RDS is so well established and matters to a great many people throughout Ireland and beyond – we all have our own RDS story – so I’m delighted to be appointed to this role and to ensure that it continues to serve people in the fourth century of its existence.”
“This has been a year of great change and great challenges”, she said, “and it has been impossible to ignore the disruption caused to the events industry, within which the RDS Venue is a major player”.
“Every organisation has to adjust to the ‘new normal’ and I look forward to meeting these challenges, working with members and the great team within the RDS as we go through 2021 and beyond”, Ruane added.
In a press statement, RDS President Owen Lewis said that Ruane “has shown she can lead with innovation, demonstrated by her track record of transforming complex, high performance organisations”.
“Not only will her natural people skills be so valuable, but her financial and operational experience will directly translate to the RDS. As importantly, her time spent in the private sector, in tertiary education and on boards such as Science Foundation Ireland, will be of distinct value to the work we do as RDS Foundation.”
“The purpose of the RDS is to see Ireland thrive culturally and economically, and the RDS Foundation is the way we accomplish this”, Lewis added.
