Colm Kearney
Colm Kearney (1954–2018) was an Irish economist and academic, who was dean of the Faculty of Business and Economics at Monash University, Melbourne, Australia, until 2017, shortly before his death on 28 March 2018. Background. Born and raised in Dublin, Kearney attended University College Dublin (UCD), where he graduated with a BA in Economics and Politics. Kearney went on to complete master's degrees in economics from UCD, the University of Essex, and The University of Western Ontario. In 1985 he completed his PhD at the University of Warwick. His doctoral thesis was entitled "Monetary Policy and Asset  Prices". Academic career and interests. Kearney's lecturing career began at the University of Essex, after which he worked as a research associate in the Institute for Employment Research at the University of Warwick while completing his doctoral research. He joined the Economics Department at the University of New South Wales, becoming a senior lecturer in 1988. His first professorial chair was obtained in 1990 in the Department of Economics and Finance at University of Western Sydney. After serving as an economic advisor to the Australian government he took up the position of professor of finance and economics at the  University of Technology, Sydney, and continued with his research supported by a number of Australian Research Council awards. From 2001 to 2011, Kearney served as professor of international business at Trinity College. He was elected dean of the Faculty of Business Economic and Social Studies in 2004. In 2005, Kearney was appointed to serve as senior lecturer (now chief academic officer) of the college. From 2012 to 2017, Kearney was dean of the Faculty of Business and Economics at Monash University in Melbourne. Personal. Kearney had broad policy and consulting experience, serving as senior economic advisor to Australian Federal Treasurer  (Ministers for Finance) John Kerin and Federal Finance Minister Ralph Willis in the early 1990s. His role involved attending Cabinet meetings and parliamentary sessions, advising the treasurer as well as other cabinet ministers on all aspects of macroeconomic and financial policy. Kearney is best known for his work in international business and finance. He studied and worked in ten universities in Australia, Canada, Ireland and the UK. He won competitive research awards in both Australia and Ireland, including an IRCHSS Senior Research Fellowship. He jointly led a successful bid to Enterprise Ireland under its High Performance Start-Up programme for  a campus company. He also successfully attracted significant philanthropic funds.