THE ROYAL IRISH ACADEMY IS IRELAND'S LEADING BODY OF EXPERTS IN THE SCIENCES AND HUMANITIES

The Royal Irish Academy/Acadamh Ríoga na hÉireann champions research. We identify and recognise Ireland’s world class researchers. We support scholarship and promote awareness of how science and the humanities enrich our lives and benefit society. We believe that good research needs to be promoted, sustained and communicated. The Academy is run by a Council of its members. Membership is by election and considered the highest academic honour in Ireland.

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Donald Fitzmaurice

BSc, PhD, DSc(NUI 1985, 1988, 200

Partner Mach49

Member ScienceElected in 2005

Currently, Donald Fitzmaurice is a Partner at Mach49 where he works as part of a team to develop and deploy new corporate venturing capital models and solutions for large global clients. He is chair of the Executive Committee of Transform, a joint Initiative of EY, Unilever and the UK Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office that fund and supports the development of social and environment impact businesses in the developing and emerging markets. He is a member of the Board of the Smithsonian Science Education Centre where he contributes to the strategic direction of the centre, while advising of specific outreach initiatives and activities. Until recently, he was a member of a team building new businesses for EY and for their clients.  In this context, he has supported the establishment and funding of EY’s new Skills businesses. He has experience as a founder of and investor in early and growth stage companies focused on opportunities in the developed, developing and emerging markets.  Previous roles have included CEO of Brandtone and Executive Chairman of Intivation. He is a former EY Entrepreneur of the Year. Prior to that he was a Partner with DraperFisherJurvetson-ePlanet, recognized as a pioneer of the global venture capital model they invested in Skype (Europe), Baidu (China) and Trivitron (India). He began his career as Professor of Chemistry at University College Dublin.  Their research focused on designing nanostructured materials that enabled next generation electronic (ultra-fast integrated circuits), energy storage (low-cost solar cells and fast-charging batteries) and healthcare (targeted drug delivery) solutions.  They published extensively in the leading peer-reviewed journals and worked with leading companies in these sectors to commercialize their research. Throughout his career, he has worked on a pro bono basis for the Irish, EU and US Governments and their agencies to develop strategies and policies needed to create and maintain a vibrant and conducive environment for innovation. 

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