Clonmel man Brendan Boyle receives national teaching excellence award in Australia

A Clonmel man has received national recognition in Australia for his quality teaching and sustained dedication to improving student learning outcomes. 

Associate Professor Brendan Boyle was presented with the Teaching Excellence Award from the Australian Awards for University Teaching at a ceremony in Melbourne for his innovative delivery modes that are helping students confidently complete their studies. 

A lecturer at the Newcastle Business School at the University of Newcastle in New South Wales, he is regarded as a leading academic in international business studies.

Brendan is son of Billy and Winnie Boyle from Giants Grave, Clonmel.

A past pupil of Ss Peter and Paul's primary school and Clonmel High School, he graduated from UCD with a Masters degree in Business before completing a PhD in International Business at the University of Sydney.  

He has been teaching international business for a number of years leading up to this award.

“Most of my students are international students, and consequently I have adapted coursework and assessments to consider their individual needs, from language and cultural differences to class interaction", he says.

“Students from different countries are effectively the experts when it comes to doing business in their particular countries and I like to draw on that expertise so that we can all learn from each other”. 

Despite integrating excellence throughout his teaching career and helping thousands of students successfully graduate from their studies, Brendan said he was surprised to receive the award.

“I’m still pinching myself. If you told me when I first arrived in Australia in 2003  that I’d end up receiving an award from the Minister of Education as an Associate Professor at a top university, I’m not sure I would have believed it.

"I feel humbled, honoured and thankful to all the people who helped me to get to this point in my career, especially my mentor Professor Stephen Nicholas and my wonderful partner Professor Rebecca Mitchell”, he said.

The Australian Awards for Excellence in University Teaching are awarded by the Federal Minister of Education on a competitive basis, and there were only 17 individual awards across the entire sector.  

He has also lectured for UCD; Centro de Estudios Superiores Universitarios de Galicia in Spain and the University of Sydney.

He is a graduate member of the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development in the United Kingdom, which is a professional body for those involved in management development.   

He is also co-director of the Health Services Research and Innovation Centre at the University of Newcastle. This centre aims to improve the design and management of health services, with particular emphasis on interdisciplinary approaches to addressing critical challenges. 

Brendan, who played hurling with Moyle Rovers, is grateful to all his family, and especially his parents for putting him through college. 

"As one of seven children, I appreciate the sacrifices they made to give me the opportunity to gain a Degree, Masters and PhD to become one of Australia's top university  lecturers", he says.