Professor Gerard McHugh
Professor Gerard McHugh was born in Dublin and educated at O’Connell’s CBS, North Richmond Street. On completing his secondary schooling, he trained as a Chartered Certified Accountant with the Dublin office of Deloitte, qualifying in 1980. He returned to full-time study in 1983 earning an M.A in Accounting & Financial Management at the University of Sheffield, and subsequently, a Ph.D. at Loughborough University.
Professor McHugh was appointed to a lectureship in accounting in Trinity Business School in 1985, since when he has taught accounting and financial analysis to generations of ESS, BESS, M.Sc., and MBA students. He is recognised as an outstanding communicator and has received multiple awards for teaching excellence. His research and publications have all been in the fields of accounting, accounting education, financial analysis, and the legislative history of financial reporting.
From 2001-2011, Professor McHugh served as Head of Trinity’s Business School and led the philanthropic campaign for the construction of the new school which opened on campus in 2019. In 2014 he was appointed as the University’s Dean of Development, a position that he held until his retirement in 2026. He was elected to Fellowship of Trinity College in 2019 and is a trustee of Trinity Foundation.
Beyond Trinity, Professor McHugh has served on a variety of national and European bodies, and boards, including the Irish Accounting & Finance Association, the Insurance Institute of Ireland, ComReg, Science Gallery International, and the Association of MBAs. He is a visiting professor in International Accounting at Ecole des Ponts Business School, Paris. In 2020, he was appointed by the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform to the Standing Advisory Group on Government Accounting and Financial Reporting.
Gerard has six adult children, three of whom are Trinity graduates, two UCD, and one, UG. An avid cyclist, in his leisure time, Gerard can be found cycling in the Wicklow mountains.
Professor McHugh was elected the 69th Pro-Chancellor of the University in 2025.