Joseph P MacHale: Joseph P MacHale, who has died aged 83, was secretary and bursar of University College Dublin between 1954 and 1987, serving under four college presidents.
The highlight of his career was undoubtedly the momentous move from the overcrowded conditions of Earlsfort Terrace to the open spaces and modern buildings of Belfield. Closely involved with the project from the outset, he oversaw the further development of the campus.
When he first joined the staff in 1948 students numbered 3,000. On his retirement they exceeded 10,000, and the annual budget was in the region of £40 million.
In the 1960s, as free secondary education led to a dramatic increase in student applications, he became interested in predictors of academic ability and published articles on the subject. His findings, with those of Monica Nevin, led to the development of a points system to allocate UCD places, which led to the formation of the Central Applications Office, of which he was a founder director.
Born in 1922 in Dublin, he had a distinguished school record at Blackrock College. At UCD, where he began with an entrance scholarship in 1939, he studied arts and commerce and was awarded scholarships every year.
He gained the BA degree in 1942 with first-class honours and first place in German and Latin, the BComm degree in 1943 with first-class honours and first place, the NUI bursary in commerce in 1944 and the MComm degree in 1947, again with first-class honours and first place.
His professional training in accountancy began in 1942 with the firm of Reynolds, McCarron & Co, and at the final examination in 1945 he won the Muir Prize and the gold medal of the Institute of Chartered Accountants and gained the highest marks ever recorded in this examination.
His career in accountancy began with Stokes Kennedy Crowley & Co, and he later worked with Aer Rianta. He returned to UCD as assistant secretary in 1948.
As bursar his financial expertise was legendary. His skilful management of college funds avoided a predicted deficit in many years of high inflation. The expansion of UCD and the commissioning of new buildings meant large increases in operating costs for which he managed with competence and ingenuity to make provision.
One of his major responsibilities was the preparation of the college's annual budget and the submission of estimates to the Higher Education Authority. With his keen debating skills, he was a formidable representative on behalf of UCD in transactions with business concerns, professional bodies and other institutions.
In his earliest years as bursar he devised and introduced standardised salary scales and grades for academic and other staff, remuneration hitherto having been apparently personal and individual.
As college secretary his guiding principle was the maximisation of resources to be applied to academic purposes and to student services, and he ensured that approximately 60 per cent of the total expenditure of the college was devoted to academic departments.
Thanks to his efforts UCD's administrative costs, at 4 per cent or less, were the lowest of any university institution in the country.
When the governing body in 1967 welcomed the proposal of then minister for education Donagh O'Malley to merge UCD and TCD in a new University of Dublin, he wrote: "That a university institution should agree to liquidate itself as a separate entity in order that a new and better university should rise, phoenix-like, from the ashes, is a very unusual occurrence. And when it does so entirely voluntarily without outside pressure, it becomes even more remarkable."
In return for this selflessness, however, there would have to be "complete unification" of the two universities, with UCD as the dominant partner.
UCD's "gentle revolution" was a challenge to be faced down. At a teach-in in February 1969, organised by students, he spoke on the move to Belfield, listing the facts and the decisions taken by the college authorities; he refused to be drawn into discussion. Notwithstanding a student occupation of the administrative offices, the move went ahead.
In Belfield the absence of suitable hostelries in the area prompted the students' council to set about establishing a bar. Initially opposed to the idea, MacHale relented on condition that spirits would not be served. In time this restriction was dropped and students joined the gin-and-tonic set.
A member of the UCD Governing Body, he was a founding member of the Irish Conference of University Administrators. A member of the Senate of the National University from 1962 to 1972, he was in 1999 awarded an honorary doctorate in laws by UCD.
A gifted sportsman, he represented Ireland at tennis and was a member of the 1947-50 Davis Cup team. He was Irish squash champion in 1951 and 1952. He represented Ireland at bridge for many years, beginning in 1952; his international career ended playing with the seniors' team in 2003. He was in 2001 made a grand master, one of only seven in the history of the State.
His wife Carmel, son Conor, and daughters Aoife and Bairbre survive him.
Joseph Patrick MacHale: born January 8th, 1922; died July 5th, 2005