Dr. Garret Maher - Executive Director

Dr. Garret Maher is the Executive Director of the Global Undergraduate Awards, joining the team in summer 2018, and is responsible for the overall management of the Awards and Annual Summit. He has worked in the higher education sector for more than a decade in a number of roles. Most recently, Garret worked at the University of Exeter, as a key member of the Global Partnerships team, focused on strengthening Exeter's ties with key universities in Europe. Prior to that, Garret worked at the University of Warwick to advance international links in Central Asia; as a lecturer at the National University of Ireland, Galway; and as Assistant Professor of Geography at Gulf University for Sciences and Technology in Kuwait. He has also worked as a private Research Consultant for the British Council and Brown-Forman; and led research operations in Brazil, Ireland, USA, the UAE, Kuwait, and Lebanon, and has published in a number of highly ranked international journals. He received his PhD in Geography, and BA, from the National University of Ireland, Galway, and his Master’s Degree from University College Dublin. Get in touch with Garret directly at garret@undergraduateawards.com

Caroline G. Schroeder - Development Manager

Caroline is the Development Manager, overseeing the UA’s partnerships with public and private stakeholders. Originally from America, she first came to Dublin as a visiting student at Trinity College Dublin, where she completed her own undergraduate research. She also studied at Oxford University, the University of Granada in Spain, before completing her BAs in History and Spanish Language Literature at Louisiana State University’s Ogden Honors College. She began her career in development as a coordinator for Miss USA, fundraising for a local primary school for children with disabilities. More recently, she worked with organizations highlighting how safety procedures on college campuses impact women’s access to higher education. Her work on the topic has been published, and in 2021 was awarded by the LSU Ethics Institute. Having worked with a number of nonprofits in both America and Ireland, she appreciates that non-profit development depends as much on strategic planning as it does passion. For those passionate about supporting the UA and its mission, Caroline devotes her role to helping you plan how to best engage your passion. You can contact her at business@undergraduateawards.com

Diane Nolan - Communications Manager

Diane is our Communications Manager spearheading the promotion of the Global Undergraduate Awards Programme worldwide. Hailing from the UK, she initially studied for dual undergraduate degrees - BA in Fine Art and a BSc in Computer Programming when no one could see a link between her two passions. Upon graduation, something called the web happened and from there she delved into interactive media, web programming and graphic design for corporate clients during the emergence of these, then, new platforms. However, her journey led her back to academia, where she focused on researching the potential impact of social platform development and mobile gaming techniques. Over the past 17 years, she's lectured, presented, written and advised on these topics with international clients, government bodies, universities, colleges, and schools across Singapore, Malaysia, Germany, the UK, and the USA, while empowering thousands of students to pursue careers in the creative industries. Diane's zest for travel, meeting new people, learning languages, and embracing life brought her to Ireland, where she resides with her husband, three sons, and two rescue Chihuahuas. If you have any questions related to media and communications, you can contact her at comms@undergraduateawards.com

Helen Layton Morgan - Judging Executive

Helen is our Judging Executive here at GUA, her role involves keeping our library of papers up to date, managing the judging process and supporting/recruiting our esteemed judges. Originally from Dublin, Helen obtained her BA History at Trinity College Dublin and later completed a Masters in African Studies at Leiden University and a Diploma in Law from The Law Society of Ireland. She is currently in the process of completing her MSc in Library and Information Management and is especially interested in researching topics which merge the perspectives of Information Science and Environmental Humanities. She loves music, books, all things Whitney Houston and is slowly trying to improve her cooking skills with the help of Youtube and her enthusiastic daughters! If you have any questions regarding the UA and the judging process you can contact her at judgingexec@undergraduateawards.com

Niamh Carroll - Programme Executive

Niamh is our Programme Executive here at GUA, her role involves keeping all the admin and data up to scratch. Niamh originally studied Makeup Artistry at LA College of Creative Arts in the heart of Dublin
City Centre, she worked as a junior artist for the Gaiety Theatre and as a freelance artist before returning to study at Ballyfermot College of Further Education. Here she studied Digital Marketing and Content Development. If you have any questions regarding the GUA Programme you can contact her at programme@undergraduateawards.com