Dr. Oonagh B. Breen is an Associate Professor at the Sutherland School of Law, University College Dublin. She was an Ian Potter Foundation Fellow at the Australian Centre for Philanthropy and Non-profit Studies in 2016 and a Research Fellow at the Hauser Center for Nonprofits, Harvard University in 2009. At UCD, she teaches a clinical course in NGO Law, Governance and Social Change. Her research focuses on comparative charity regulation and governance and the lessons that can be learnt and shared from such comparison.
Dr. Breen is the current Chair of the board of ICNL (the International Centre for Not-for-Profit Law) and an elected board member of the International Society for Third Sector Research. She was the recipient of a Fulbright Scholarship and Government of Ireland Research Scholarship to Yale Law School in 2003. In 2008, she was awarded a Cordaid/ICNL Distinguished Research Award for her work on the European regulation of non-profit entities.
Through her research, Dr. Breen seeks to identify, explore and better understand generic problems that affect the operation of philanthropy globally whether in the sphere of definition of charity, the rules governing its regulation, or concerns over the transparency and accountability of charitable institutions to their beneficiaries and the public. With Dr Alison Dunn and Professor Mark Sidel, she co-edited Regulatory Waves: Comparative Perspectives on State Regulation and Self-Regulation Policies in the Nonprofit Sector (Cambridge University Press, 2016). She has also published extensively on matters relating to financial disclosure and fundraising regulation nationally and internationally in amongst others Voluntas, Public Law, Financial Accountability and Management and Public Money and Management.
Key Topics: Comparative charity regulation and charity governance
Webpage: http://www.ucd.ie/research/people/law/assoc professoroonaghbreen/
Email:
Current Position:
Associate Professor of Law, University College Dublin
Dissertation:
Crossing Borders: Comparative Perspectives on the Legal Regulation of Charities and the Role of State-Nonprofit Partnership in Public Policy Development (2006, supervisors: Professor John G. Simon, Professor Henry Hansmann, Professor J. H. Langbein)
Education:
Doctorate in Juridical Science (JSD), Yale Law School (2006).
Masters in Law (LLM), Yale Law School (2004).
Barrister at Law, the Honorable Society of Kings Inns (1997).
Masters in Law (LLM by research), University College Dublin (1995).
Bachelor of Civil Law, University College Dublin (1992).
Research Productivity:
30 international peer reviewed publications;
12 national publications;
3 authored/co-authored national reports;
3 authored/co-authored international reports.