DOCTOR OF ECONOMIC SCIENCE
PAUL QUIGLEY
It is fitting
that the
Paul Quigley was born in 1923 and qualified
with an honours degree in Civil Engineering at University College Dublin in
1942 when he was 19. But even before
that his sense of service to society and to the nation came to the fore. He interrupted his university studies and
enlisted in the Irish Army in 1940.
After basis training, he was released to continue his engineering
studies; on qualification, he returned to the Army. He was commissioned, assigned to the Corps of
Engineers, and posted to the
During his years with the School, he developed
a lasting interest in education, an interest which was to manifest itself in
various forms throughout his distinguished career.
There followed a series of important appointments
which spanned over 40 years and which saw him contribute to corporate, to
regional, and to national development in many different ways.
Paul Quigley joined Irish Ropes in 1946 and
during the next 7 years pioneered the first applications of both scientific
management and work study in
In 1953 he became the first Director of the
newly formed Irish Management Institute and held this position until 1960. Under his management and
direction, the IMI’s position in Irish business life was developed and
consolidated. Its premises were
acquired, changed, and enhanced; its operational style of annual management
conferences and management development courses was created and took shape; its
important Management journal was launched.
In short, the foundations of the Irish Management Institute were firmly
established and the operations of the Institute were launched soundly by his
vision, his zeal, and his commitment.
From 1960 to 1985 Paul Quigley devoted his
professional career to the Shannon Free Airport Development Company – first and
early on as General Services Manager, and then as General Manager for over 24
years. His talents, sense of public
service, and sheer professionalism knew no bounds in this role. Innovative development in the Shannon and Mid
West Region; targeted developments in tourism and for small, medium, and large
industry; the linking of aviation, tourism, and town building; cooperative
endeavour for regional development; industrial and clustered industry linkages
– all of these and many more were carefully orchestrated by the man, Paul
Quigley, who could and did – with seeming consummate ease – operate at the
regional, national, and international levels, but always to a clearly focused
goal.
Paul Quigley was then, and is, a man of vision,
of leadership, and of service. It is not
surprising that a man with these qualities was asked to take on other public
and international tasks. He served as
Chairman of the National Institute for Higher Education, Limerick, as Chairman
of AnCO (now FÁS), the Industrial Training Authority,
as a member of the Public Service Advisory Council; and he undertook many
consultancy assignments for agencies of the United Nations in fields as far
apart as Iran, Sri Lanka, Egypt, and Costa Rica. One could give details of the important
contribution made by Paul Quigley in each of these roles; suffice it to say
that his contribution shaped, for the public good, the destiny of all those
activities with which he was associated.
In honouring Paul Quigley today, we honour a man who has contributed
much to our society, and to the economic and social well-being and welfare of
our country. It is fitting that the