IITI Board of Directors

Dr. Prabhu Kulkarni

Prabhu came to Ireland as an Albright & Wilson international Scholar in Trinity College in 1967. After completing his Ph.D. degree in Chemistry, Prabhu worked in various Chemical Industries in Ireland, last 26 years in the Research and Development division of Henkel-Loctite. Since 2003, Prabhu has his own Renewable Energy business with fully owned subsidiary companies in India and UK.

Prabhu is a Charted Fellow of the Institution of Occupational Health and Safety (IOSH) and a registered Safety Practitioner. He is a former Council member of IOSH international, and past Chairman of the Irish Branch (1996-99). Since 2005 he is also a Board member of the London based, 125 years old international Society of Chemical Industry (SCI), Chairman of the Heath and Safety group of SCI. He is past Chairman (1989-1992) of the SCI Ireland Branch. In January 2008 he was awarded Lampitt Medal, the highest SCI Award, for the first time to a resident in Ireland.

Prabhu has presented lectures in 2003, 2005 to the Smurfit Business School on ‘Business opportunities in India’ and participated seminars and chaired sessions in international conferences on Health and Safety, Chemical Regulations and Energy issues in Ireland, UK, Denmark, Sweden and India. Prabhu is India Director for the Asia Pacific Trade Forum of the Irish Exporters Association and Institute of International Trade of Ireland. He participated in the EU India Business Summit and the 2006 Irish Trade mission to India lead by the then Taoiseach Mr Bettie Ahern.

Prabhu is former member of the RDS Industry Committee (1993-95) and Hon Secretary (1983-91) and past President (1991-93) of the Ireland India Cultural Society. From 2004 to 2008, Prabhu has published eight technical reviews on Energy and Environment topics in a bi-monthly magazine Chemistry & Industry published in the UK.

Dr. Liming Wang

Director UCD Confucius Institute for Ireland and Irish Institute for Chinese Studies

Born and brought up in China, Dr Wang worked for six and a half years (as a Deputy Division Director from 1986) for the Ministry of Commerce of PR China in Beijing following his primary degree obtained in 1982. In 1989, he completed an International MBA course in Sheffield Hallam University as a visiting student. He was subsequently awarded a visiting studentship from Queen’s University Belfast and, after completing his PhD in Economics, became a teaching and research fellow at Queen’s in 1995. From 2000, he worked as a Senior Research Fellow and Head of the China Unit, which is primarily involved in managing the expansion and development of Queen’s links with China in teaching, research and joint programmes.

Dr Wang was appointed at the beginning of 2006 to establish and run the Irish Institute for Chinese Studies at UCD. He was also appointed as Director of UCD Confucius Institute for Ireland.

Outside of UCD, Dr Wang is the Chairman of the Association for Chinese Studies in Ireland, the Secretary General of the Chinese Economic Association in Europe and a Board Director of the Institute of International Trade of Ireland. He has been a Visiting Professor at Huazhong University of Science and Technology (2002-2004) and Anhui Normal University since 2003. He has also been a member of International Editorial Board for Journal of Chinese Economic and Business Studies since 2003.

His primary research interests are in Chinese economy, transitional economics, China’s financial market and China’s rural development. He has published many articles and book chapters on these subjects and co-authored books entitled China’s Grain Economy: The challenge of feeding more than a billion in 2000 and Doing Business in China: The Irish Experience in 2010.

Dr. Christina Gates

Ms. Ann Horan

Ann Horan took on her current role in January 2009. In 2005/06, Ann was responsible for the set up and launch of DCU Ryan Academy as its Interim CEO. Immediately prior to this, Ann was Managing Director of Bank of Ireland Finance, the asset and commercial finance subsidiary of the Bank of Ireland Group. In this role she was responsible for the integration and leadership of two Bank of Ireland subsidiary companies and the acquisition and integration of a third company. Through Ann’s leadership, the group achieved significant synergies and cost savings and set a clear strategic direction to achieve market dominance in key markets. Bank of Ireland Finance had a loan book of €1.5bn, profitability of €25m per annum and a staff of 300. In a previous role as Head of Group Risk & Compliance at Bank of Ireland, Ann designed and implemented an innovative insurance programme which resulted in savings in excess of €20m for the bank. This was just one of a number of innovations that Ann was responsible for during her career in the bank. Ann is an accountant with a Masters in Finance from DCU. She has extensive experience of all aspects of financial services, having worked in that industry for almost 30 years. She is a past Director and Vice President of the Institute of Bankers, a current Trustee of the DCU Educational Trust and a member of the Governing Authority at the university, Honorary Treasurer of the International Women’s Forum Ireland and a past Chairman of the UK Factors & Discounters Association.

Dr. Maeve Henchion

Maeve Henchion (MAgrSc, PhD) leads the food marketing research programme at the Ashtown Food Research Centre, Teagasc, where she has worked for the past 14 years. Her current research, which is funded by EU and national funding, relates to innovation management, consumer acceptance of novel food technologies, new (food) product development and sustainable food consumption. Her research is published in several international journals and she has presented at many European conferences. She currently has 30 peer reviewed scientific publications. She has also been an academic reviewer for several international journals in the food marketing and food science field. Prior to taking up her current position, she worked as a research assistant at University College Dublin, where she was awarded her PhD for a study, which examined the export performance of the Irish beef industry.

Mr. John F. Whelan

John is Chief Executive of the Irish Exporters Association and Chairman of the Institute of International Trade of Ireland. He is a science graduate of University College Dublin and completed an Masters in Business Administation (MBA) there. He completed a post gradate Diploma in Business Studies in Newcastle upon Tyne University and was awarded a research internship to Liverpool University School of Management.

He is well know for his many published papers on international trade matters, both nationally and internationally. He has presented as a guest lecturer of the UN International Trade Centre in Geneva .He is author, co-author and editor of a number of books including;
‘Working with Channel Partners—a guide to international sales’
‘Intellectual Property Management – A Guide for Exporters’
‘Irish Exporters Essential Handbook’
‘Export Ireland Survey and International Finance Review’
‘North Atlantic Trade and Transport Study’

He has represented the Irish Exporters Association at the National Social Partnership negotiations since 1999, and also has acted on many Irish Government task forces reviewing business issues. He is an Honorary Life Member of the Royal Dublin Society (RDS), a member of the Kildare Street Club, and the Naas Golf Club, and is active in choral groups.

He is a trustee and founder director of the Celbridge Enterprise Centre , and is Chairman of the Aeolus aviation group.