Research head appointed president of Waterford IT

The head of an award- winning research centre at Waterford Institute of Technology has been chosen to lead the college through an expected period of turbulence.

Willie Donnelly was yesterday announced as the choice of WIT’s governing body for the position of president, succeeding Ruaidhri Neavyn who recently left on secondment to the Higher Education Authority.

The appointment also follows the departure late last year of WIT’s chairman, Donie Ormonde, who met after a series of meetings with the Education Minister Jan O’Sullivan, following WIT’s suspension of merger talks with Carlow IT.