The KPMG Skills Zone at the UCD Moore Centre for Business in Dublin will allow business students to learn in an environment that celebrates innovation, creativity and adaptability. The opening of the KPMG Skills Zone coincides with the announcement of a number of scholarships for UCD undergraduates from disadvantaged backgrounds and the unveiling of a plaque in memory of the late Denis O’Connor, former Managing Partner of KPMG in Ireland. This investment in education reinforces KPMG’s position as the leading employer of talented graduates in Ireland.
The KPMG Skills Zone is part of a €20 million UCD Moore Centre for Business, opened by founding donor and business leader Angela Moore. It honours the legacy of her late husband entrepreneur and philanthropist Dr George Moore, one of the founding fathers of data analytics. Integrating fully with the UCD Lochlann Quinn School of Business, the new wing increases the School’s space by almost 50 per cent and was designed by internationally renowned architects RKD.
KPMG Managing Partner Seamus Hand and UCD President Professor Andrew Deeks pictured with students at the launch of the KPMG Skills Zone at the opening of the new Moore Wing at the UCD Quinn School of Business.
To help advance our students, we have created the new KPMG Skills Zone—a place which empowers students to develop and enhance their soft and analytical skills.
Seamus Hand
Managing Partner
KPMG in Ireland
The UCD Moore Centre for Business
The KPMG Skills Zone
Remembering Denis O’Connor
The late Denis O’Connor was a UCD graduate and former Managing Partner of KPMG who passed away in 2009. Denis's legacy as a business leader and educator is recognised by a series of four annual Denis O’Connor scholarships in support of students from disadvantaged backgrounds and a memorial plaque at the KPMG Skills Zone. The plaque was unveiled by KPMG’s Anna Scally at an event attended by Margaret O’Connor and members of the O’Connor family.
Speaking at the event, KPMG’s Anna Scally said; “Denis O’Connor was a business leader, UCD alumnus, Managing Partner, a fondly remembered colleague and someone who placed an enormous value on education. It is a fitting tribute to Denis and his lasting legacy that he is recognised at UCD in this manner. These scholarships and our support of the KPMG Skills Zone epitomise so many of the things Denis stood for and we are proud to be able to continue to mark his outstanding contribution to our firm and our profession in this way.”
Pictured (L to R) are UCD’s Professor Anthony Brabazon, KPMG’s Anna Scally, Margaret O’Connor and UCD’s Dr Maeve Houlihan.
Encouraging interaction
The UCD Moore Centre for Business and the KPMG Skills Zone provide extensive co-working spaces mimic those in start-ups and innovation hubs, encouraging informal and formal interaction and collaboration. The UCD Moore Centre for Business also provides media suites, problem-solving classrooms with Oculus virtual-reality headsets, a green roof and slow down zone to encourage mindfulness as just some of the highlights of this forward-looking learning environment.
Professor Anthony Brabazon, UCD Dean of Business said: “As Ireland’s leading business school we have a consistent track record of investing in world-class facilities that present our students with every opportunity to excel and differentiate themselves as they enter the world of business.”
Explaining the vision of the UCD Moore Centre for Business, Associate Professor Maeve Houlihan, Director of the UCD Lochlann Quinn School of Business said: “Through this extraordinary initiative, we will expand the mix of learning experiences we offer to meet an evolving and more diverse world.”