Cork University Business School was delighted to bestow Dr. Colin Hunt, CEO of AIB, with an Honorary Doctorate at last Monday’s conferring ceremony at UCC.
This is a further academic accolade of an Honorary Doctorate from our beloved and esteemed institution for Colin, where he also completed his BComm in 1991 and Masters in Economics Science in 1992.
Following an illustrious career in banking and finance, Colin was appointed Chief Executive Officer of AIB Group PLC in March 2019, returning to helm of the organisation where he worked as a bank teller while a student in UCC.
He describes his time in UCC as transformational, not least because it is where he met his wife, the beginning of their happy story that has bloomed with their three beautiful daughters.
Driving sustainability and tackling climate change are important to him as group CEO. A measure of success is that AIB was recently included in the S&P Global Sustainability Yearbook, meaning it is within the top 15% of companies for sustainable practices. Colin is also committed to gender equality. Under his leadership and through concerted positive action, AIB became only the second bank in the world to create a gender-balanced executive committee.
L-R: Professor Mark Hutchinson, Professor Michelle Carr, Dr. Colin Hunt, Dr. Geraldine Ryan and Professor Mark Mulcahy.
Marrying his great passions for education and sustainability Colin has worked closely with UCC in recent years, in roles as Adjunct Professor and CEO in Residence. Under his leadership, AIB has committed to a partnership with Cork University Business School to establish a Professor of Sustainable Business and a Lecturer of Responsible Management. This is a partnership that will help to develop the next generation of business leaders who will need to balance environmental, social and governance challenges while also leading economically sustainable organisations.
On the morning of the ceremony, Colin held an interactive discussion hosted by Dr. Geraldine Ryan as part of University College Cork’s Honorary Conferring celebrations. The fireside chat allowed the audience to gain insights into Dr. Hunt’s personal stories and thoughts on various topics related to his experience.
Because of his significant contribution to public life and private business, his vision and his tremendous business achievements, everyone at CUBS was honoured to present Dr. Colin Hunt for the award of Honorary Degree of Doctor of Economic Science.