Fred Powell

Professor Fred Powell teaches social policy at University College Cork (UCC). He served as Head of the School of Applied Social Studies and Dean of Social Science at UCC over a 25 year period and has a great deal of experience of professional education and course accreditation.

Currently, Professor Powell is the UCC Student Ombudsman. He is also 2018 Chair of the Irish University Association (IUA) National Steering Committee on Community Engagement.

His most recent books include; Dark Secrets of Childhood: Media Power, Child Abuse and Public Scandals, (2015), Policy Press UK (co-authored with Margaret Scanlon) and The Political Economy of the Irish Welfare State: Church, State and Capital (2017), Policy Press, UK.

Professor Powell is the principal investigator on an Irish Research Council/ Department of Education and Skills funded study on widening participation in higher education. It reflects Professor Powell’s life-long commitment to an inclusive higher education system that opens access to citizens from socially deprived communities, ethnic minorities and students with disabilities.