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School Executive Committee 2025/26

(Additional appointments pending)

• Paul O'GradyHead of School, Committee Chair Philosophy
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  Paul is the Head of the School of Social Sciences and Philosophy 2022–2030 and the School Executive Committee Chair. The Head of School is responsible for the effective general management of the School, for ensuring the provision of academic leadership and strategic vision, and for the quality of the student experience.

  Previously, he was Head of the Department of Philosophy (2015–2020). He first completed an MA in Philosophy in UCD on the philosophy of logic and continued onto his PhD in TCD, focusing on the issue of cognitive realism. Paul then worked at St Catherine's College Oxford, returning to TCD in 1997 and being made a Fellow in 2003. He has published many books on Philosophy including Relativism (Routledge, 2002), Philosophical Theology (Priory Institute, 2008), Aquinas's Philosophy of Religion (Palgrave, 2014) and edited Consolations of Philosophy: Reflections in an Economic Downturn (2011).
• Olive DonnellySchool Manager School of Social Sciences and Philosophy
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  As School Manager, Olive manages the delivery of the high-quality administrative service that supports the day-to-day smooth running of the school as well as its longer-term strategic planning and development processes. She is responsible for financial planning and budget management; HR and staff management; promotion, marketing and commercialisation; relationship management and strategic and operational planning.

  Olive was previously Manager of the School of Social Work and Social Policy and held positions in the School of Computer Science and Statistics, the Department of Economics and the School of Nursing and Midwifery. She holds undergraduate qualifications in Accountancy and Economics, and postgraduate qualifications in Management and HR from University College Cork and the Open University.
• Professor Agustín BénétrixHead of Department Economics
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  Agustín is an Associate Professor and Head of the Department of Economics (2022-25). Heads of Department provide academic leadership, oversee standards, preserve disciplinary integrity, and contribute to policy formation and strategic planning.

  Previously, he was Director of the International Macroeconomics research unit (IM-TCD). His research interests include financial globalisation, exchange rates and fiscal policy. His work has been published in the Journal of International Economics, Economic Policy, Journal of International Money and Finance and International Journal of Central Banking, among others. He is a Senior Editor of Oxford Open Economics and Associate Editor of Economia and Review of World Economics.
• Professor John DiversHead of Department Philosophy
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  John is a Professor and Head of the Department of Philosophy (2022-2028). He holds the Chair of Moral Philosophy (1837) and is a Professorial Fellow of Trinity College Dublin. Heads of Department provide academic leadership, oversee standards, preserve disciplinary integrity, and contribute to policy formation and strategic planning.

  John's research focuses on modality and invokes the full range of sub-disciplines of theoretical philosophy: metaphysics; epistemology; logic and the philosophies of language, of mind and of science. He completed his degrees (MA Mental Philosophy 1982, PhD Philosophy 1990) at the University of Glasgow. He has previously been Professor of Philosophy at the University of Sheffield and the University of Leeds and is currently an Editor of the journal Thought: a Journal of Philosophy (Wiley Blackwell) and a past President of the Mind Association.
• Professor Constantine BoussalisHead of Department Political Science
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  Constantine is an Associate Professor and Head of the Department of Economics (2024-2027). Heads of Department provide academic leadership, oversee standards, preserve disciplinary integrity, and contribute to policy formation and strategic planning.

  He is a dedicated researcher with a passion for exploring the intersection of computational methods, environmental politics, and political communication. His work has appeared in American Political Science Review, Journal of Politics, Political Communication, International Studies Quarterly, Global Environmental Change, Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion, among others. He holds a PhD in Political Science (World and Comparative Politics) and a MA in International Studies from Claremont Graduate University as well as a BA in Political Science from California State University, Los Angeles.
• Professor Elaine MoriartyHead of Department Sociology
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  Elaine Moriarty is an Associate Professor and Head of the Department of Sociology (2025-2028). Heads of Department provide academic leadership, oversee standards, preserve disciplinary integrity, and contribute to policy formation and strategic planning.

  Elaine's teaching and research interests include mobility and migration, race and ethnicity, employment and labour markets, qualitative longitudinal research methods, gender and identity. She has led a range of influential research projects and contributes as an expert evaluator and advisor on EU-funded projects and policy initiatives. Elaine holds a Bachelor of Social Sciences from University College Cork, as well as both an MPhil (Ethnic and Racial Studies) and a PhD in Sociology from Trinity College Dublin.
• Professor Carol NewmanDirector of Research Economics
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  Carol is a Professor of Economics and the Director of Research for the School. This role has delegated responsibility for the development of research and innovation in the School. It requires collaborating with the Dean of Research, Chairing the School Research Committee, and representing the School with external bodies in matters relating to research.

  Her research explores the microeconomic foundations of development, focusing on how constraints, such as limited access to markets, finance, or information, affect individual and firm behaviour, and how targeted policies can alleviate these barriers. She is Chair of the Board of Partnership for Economic Policy (PEP), a Non-Resident Senior Research Fellow at UNU-WIDER and a consultant to the World Bank. She serves as an International Resource Person for the African Economic Research Consortium (AERC) and has chaired Ireland’s National Economic Dialogue since 2023.
• Dr Paul ScanlonDirector of Teaching and Learning (Undergraduate) Economics
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  Paul is an Assistant Professor in Economics. The Director of Teaching and Learning (Undergraduate) will have delegated responsibility for the undergraduate affairs of the School and will play a central strategic role with regard to both existing and new teaching programmes, including CPD programmes, lifelong-learning and careers activities.

  His primary research focus lies in the area of macroeconomics and finance. The central theme of his work is the question of how the introduction of new goods affects individual decision-making, and how those decisions affect the macroeconomy. Specifically, a large component of my research addresses the questions of how new goods affect labour supply and the decisions to consume and save.
• Professor Selim GulesciDirector of Teaching and Learning (Postgraduate) Economics
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  Selim is an Associate Professor of Economics and the Director of Teaching and Learning (Postgraduate). The Director of Teaching and Learning (Postgraduate) has delegated responsibility for the postgraduate affairs of the School and plays a central strategic role in both existing and new teaching programmes, including CPD programmes, lifelong learning, and careers activities.

  His research lies at the intersection of labour and development economics - particularly entrepreneurship, education, and the evolution of gender and social norms that influence women’s productivity—and employs rigorous field experiments and RCTs across South Asia, Latin America, and sub‑Saharan Africa. He completed his PhD in Economics at the London School of Economics and worked at Bocconi University for nine years prior to joining TCD.
• Professor Camilla DevittCo-Director of Equality, Diversity and Inclusion Sociology
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  Camilla is an Associate Professor in Sociology. The Director of Equality, Diversity and Inclusion (EDI) will have delegated responsibility for matters relating to equality, diversity and inclusion on behalf of the School. The Director of EDI will oversee and promote the College and School's equality policies, lead the School Athena SWAN Action Plan and provide visible and sustained advocacy for equality, diversity and inclusion across the School.

  Her research focuses on the politics of immigration and social policies in Western Europe, with particular interests in labour migration, labour markets and healthcare. Her research also investigates the determinants of immigration, migrant experiences in Western European labour markets and social attitudes. She is a co-editor (with E. M. Immergut, K. M. Anderson and T. Popic) of Health Politics in Europe: A Handbook (2021, Oxford University Press). Her work has also appeared in various academic journals including the Journal of Ethnic and Migration Studies, Socio-Economic Review, Social Politics, Journal of European Social Policy and Social Policy and Administration.
• Dr David RalphCo-Director of Equality, Diversity and Inclusion Sociology
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  David is an Assistant Professor in Sociology. The Director of Equality, Diversity and Inclusion (EDI) will have delegated responsibility for matters relating to equality, diversity and inclusion on behalf of the School. The Director of EDI will oversee and promote the College and School's equality policies, lead the School Athena SWAN Action Plan and provide visible and sustained advocacy for equality, diversity and inclusion across the School.

  His broad research interests lie at the intersection of migration studies and family studies, with a particular focus on how mobility reshapes concepts of home, belonging, identity, and family life. He has pioneered the concept of 'Euro‑commuting,' exploring the phenomenon of EU citizens living in one country while working in another and its consequences for both commuters and their families. Dr Ralph has also led longitudinal research on return migrants, re‑interviewing individuals originally surveyed during Ireland's boom years to assess how their reintegration intentions and experiences evolved over time.
• Professor Francis O'TooleDirector of External Relations Economics
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  Francis is an Associate Professor in Economics and former Head of Department (2015-18), and currently serves as a member of the School Executive Committee in his role as Director of Global Relations (2022-2026). The Director of Global Relations leads the development of external academic partnerships on behalf of the School, serves on the Executive Committee, and supports student mobility and strategic collaborations in research and education. They also help align the School with Trinity’s philanthropic and alumni engagement efforts and report to senior College staff.

  His teaching and research interests are in the areas of the Economics of Competition Policy (e.g. mergers, exclusivity agreements) and the Economics of Public Policy (e.g. taxation, redistribution and compulsory voting). He has been a visiting professor in Georgetown University (where he completed his PhD), University of Dushanbe (Tajikistan) and Senshu University, Toyko.