David Keenan

BSc 1988, PhD 1992 Senior Vice President, Global Quality and Operations & General Manager Mallinckrodt Pharmaceuticals Ireland Ltd.

David Keenan was the first in his family to attend college. Today he has overall responsibility for the quality, manufacturing and global supply chain for a $2 billion pharma company, Mallinckrodt

David Keenan grew up in Clondalkin and landed at Maynooth to pursue a BSc in Biology and Chemistry. He stayed to do his PhD in Chemistry, spending eight years in Maynooth. “I say that I could have been a priest!” he says. His PhD pursuit led to an introduction to his now wife, Nicola Gardiner. David was her Chemistry demonstrator – a story he’s no doubt passed along to their daughter, Emily, now in her fourth year at Maynooth studying the same course.

With his vantage point as a Maynooth alumnus-turned-parent, Keenan says MU’s growth hasn’t compromised the close-knit student experience. “There’s still a family feeling around the place. I see it with my daughter. They get to know their lecturers and if they have a question and email them, they get back right away. It’s the same as when we were there.”

Upon graduation, Keenan landed a job in Ireland as a process chemist. “I had never been in a chemical plant or pharmaceutical company until my first day on the job. It’s so different now with work placements,” he says, and has taken current MU students into Mallinckrodt on placement. He then moved into pharmaceutical manufacturing at U.S. and Swiss companies. Today, as Senior Vice President for Global Quality and Operations & General Manager, Keenan has global responsibility for all manufacturing, quality and supply chains and manages 400 employees across teams in Ireland, US, and Japan. He says his joint degree in Maynooth was critical to his career path. “When you end up in management roles, it’s never one discipline you’re dealing with. It’s not just chemistry or biology or business.”

It was also important to his ability to progress, as the focus of the pharma industry in Ireland has changed, and continues to shift rapidly.

“Thirty years ago, the industry in Ireland was predominantly small molecule chemical processing. Over the years, the industry has shifted to large molecule biologic processing and is now moving into specialised highend manufacturing. The joint Bio-Chem degree helped me understand that better.”

Some companies also, he says, are shrinking their manufacturing footprint. Instead, they collaborate with contract manufacturing organisations (CMOs) to produce product. “Ireland is also home now to virtual companies managing supply chains around the world – companies that have no manufacturing presence in Ireland but manage the manufacture and supply of products through contract manufacturers. The industry in Ireland has changed significantly since I joined it in 1992 and is still changing. In the past, my job would have been based in the US. Now I can do it from here.” “Ireland has stayed ahead of the curve, but graduates need to understand that the industry is constantly changing and they will need to get their heads around that.”

For example, he says, Covid-19 has meant less international travel and managing teams remotely. “I look back on my time at Maynooth with very fond memories. I know the skills that I learned from my time there have been instrumental in my success. Ireland and the pharmaceutical industry has changed so much since I graduated, but Maynooth University has continually evolved to meet these challenges and, importantly, has not lost what makes it such a special University to attend.”

David Keenan was the first in his family to attend college. Today he has overall responsibility for the quality, manufacturing and global supply chain for a $2 billion pharma company, Mallinckrodt