ROBBIE BURNS, BORN 1943, FORMER HEAD OF SCHOOL OF MANAGEMENT OF BUSINESS FACULTY

Robbie Burns is a native of Larne, where he received his initial education, and in 1962 he began his studies in Applied Mathematics and the Sciences in Queen’s University. On graduation, he gained employment with the Smurfit organisation and in 1978 he was appointed to a post in the College of Commerce, Rathmines. He started the first digital computer class for business students in the college using the PDP II computer, and the students numbered 25 initially. It was a Certificate course, and the students then went forward to a Diploma course. He discusses the fact that this was supported by European funding, and that his course marked the beginnings of commercial computing, in what were exciting and challenging times in education. In 1987 he was appointed Head of the School of Management, and he discusses his time in this post until his retirement in 2008. He also gives his views on the City of Dublin VEC involvement with the nascent National Institute of Higher Education on the Ballymun project and the subsequent formation of DIT.