Professor Brian Fitzgerald has been appointed director of Lero, the Irish Software Research Centre headquartered at the University of Limerick (UL).
He replaces Professor Mike Hinchey who was in the position for eight years. Roscommon born Fitzgerald was formerly chief scientist at Lero and has been involved with the Science Foundation Ireland supported national research centre since its inception in 2005, apart from a spell as vice-president research at UL from 2008-2011.
Prior to taking up an academic position, he worked in the software industry for over a decade in a variety of sectors including finance, telecommunications, manufacturing and bespoke software development in Ireland, Belgium and Germany.
“Brian brings to the role valuable industry as well as academic experience,” commented Professor Don Barry, president, UL. “He is a pioneer in research into open source software and is widely recognised as a global leader in the study of software development processes and methods.”
Professor Mike Hinchey retains his role as professor of software engineering at UL and will continue to be involved in Lero as a co-principal investigator and leader of research in autonomous and adaptive systems. He is also involved in a number of international roles including current president of IFIP (International Federation for Information Processing) which was established in 1960 under the auspices of UNESCO.
Barry paid tribute to Hinchey’s contribution. “Mike has played a central role in developing and leading Lero and leaves it well placed to advance its position as one of the leading software research centres in the world.”
Fitzgerald was one of the pioneers of research into open source software and is widely recognised as a global leader in the study of software development processes and methods. He was one of the founding PIs in Lero. Since 2013, he has been chief scientist in Lero, during which time, following a very competitive process, Lero was established as one of 12 SFI national research centres in Ireland.
He also holds an endowed professorship, the Frederick Krehbiel II chair in Innovation in Business & Technology, at the University of Limerick.