Specialties: Policy Modelling, Strategic Planning, Spatial and Environmental ModellingCathal O’Donoghue has been from 2016, the Established Chair of Social and Public Policy, located in the Discipline of Geography at NUI Galway. He also has an affiliation to the Discipline of Economics. From 2016-2020, he was the Dean of Arts and Social Sciences. Prior to this he was since 2005, Head of Teagasc’s (Irelands Agriculture and Food Development Authority) Rural Economy and Development Programme. . He was a member of the Fund Council of CGIAR, a $1 billion a year International Agri-Food Research organisation from 2014-2016. From 2012-2014, he was CEO of the Irish Government's Commission for the Economic Development of Rural Areas 2012-2014, Chairman of the Irish Sport Horse Strategy Committee 2013-2015, was President of the International Microsimulation Association 2011-2015 and was on the Executive of the UK Agricultural Economics Society. Since 2021 he has been Chair of the Foundation Board of the RDS, a member of the Board of the National Museum of Ireland, a member of the Board of Music for Galway and Chair of the Galway Music Centre. Since 2022, he has been a member of the Royal Irish Academy Social Science Committee. He is a UCC graduate, a Statistician and Economist by training, with post graduate degrees from Oxford, UCD, the LSE, and Warwick, having worked previously at the ESRI, UK Government Economics Service, the University of Cambridge and NUI Galway. His personal research programme involves the development and use of policy simulation models, for which he holds a Chair(extra ordinary (adjunct)) at the University of Maastricht, as well as an adjunct position in UCD. He has published over 150 research papers, 5 books and supervised over 45 PhD students to completion. He has been an advisor to many international organisations and was a long term advisor to the UK Government's Department of Work and Pensions on policy modelling earlier in his career.