Prof. Peter McHugh
Professor Peter McHugh is Deputy President and Registrar of the University. He is a member of the University Management Team and Academic Council, and he deputises for the President in his absence. In his role Peter has overarching responsibility for academic strategy, academic promotions, and academic quality. He chairs the University’s Teaching and Learning Committee, the Academic Promotions Committee, the Quality Enhancement Committee, among other committees in the University. Externally, he is a member of the Senate of the NUI and the Board of the Central Applications Office (CAO). A native of Ballyhaunis, Co. Mayo, Peter holds a first-class honours BE in Mechanical Engineering from University of Galway and an ScM and PhD in Engineering from Brown University, Rhode Island, USA. He also holds a Doctor of Science (DSc) on published work from the National University of Ireland.
Peter joined the University faculty in 1991 as a Lecturer in Mechanical Engineering. He was appointed as the University’s first Established Professor of Biomedical Engineering in 2007 and he has served as Head of Biomedical Engineering within the School of Engineering since 2013. He served as Dean of College and Head of School of Engineering and Informatics from 2016 to 2019, and Head of School of Engineering from 2019 to 2021. Peter is an internationally recognised research leader in biomedical engineering and his research has been focused on fundamental developments and applications of computational and experimental methods in biomechanics, tissue mechanics and in the analysis and design of medical implants and devices, and he has published widely on these topics. In addition to research, Peter is deeply committed to undergraduate and postgraduate education.
