Professor Willie Donnelly

Heritage Council Nominee

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Professor Willie Donnelly is President Emeritus WIT (SETU).  Following retirement from SETU he  was Director of Research and Innovation in the Technology Higher Education Association (THEA), the representative body of the Technological University sector. He was President of Waterford Institute of Technology (WIT) between 2014 and 2022.   Prior to that he was the institutes first VP for Research and Innovation (2004 to 2014) He  is founder of the Telecommunications Software and Systems Research  Group (TSSG) one of Ireland largest research centres and a global leader in mobile services research and innovation.  Prior to entering academia he worked for 15 years in the telecommunications and utilities industries.  Professor Donnelly  has a strong interest in regional economic development and has been a key driver in the establishment of a cluster of mobile services companies in the South-East of Ireland.  He is founder member of a number of High Potential Start-up Companies including Feedhenry, which was acquired by Redhat in 2014.