Bernard Looney

UNIVERSITY COLLEGE DUBLIN

HONORARY CONFERRING OF BERNARD LOONEY

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President, Graduates, Colleagues, Honoured Guests,

We are here to celebrate a very important day for all of you, along with your families and friends. We celebrate what you have achieved in UCD and look forward to what you will do in your future careers. You will take with you the skills, the lessons and the knowledge that you have gained here, and you will be the world’s problem solvers: as engineers we are fundamental to creating the solutions to the world’s greatest challenges - climate change, energy shortages, water shortages. With the skills you have acquired throughout your education, you will have an opportunity to create a more sustainable future for the generations to come.We hope UCD has played a role in enabling you to reach your full potential by empowering you with skills and knowledge and we hope that the friendships you have made while here will sustain you in your endeavours.

Today’s honorary doctorate is being awarded to someone of whom UCD Engineering is very proud. He is a problem solver, committed to sustainability, inclusivity, and equality, who ably demonstrates what can be achieved by graduates of this College, embodying the values of his alma mater. I am honoured to welcome Bernard Looney here today to receive an honorary doctorate.I am delighted that his family are here to celebrate this occasion with us.

Bernard was born in Kerry –in fact, I understand that today is also his birthday - growing up on a small dairy farm in Kenmare, and was the first of his family to attend university. He was awarded his BE degree in electrical engineering from UCD in 1991, and a masters in management from Stanford in 2005.He is a Fellow of the Royal Academy of Engineering, the Irish Academy of Engineering, the Energy Institute, and a Mentor for the FTSE 100 Cross-company Mentoring Executive Programme.

On graduating from UCD, Bernard joined BP, where he has spent his whole career. His first appointment was as a drilling engineer, gaining experience in Alaska, the North Sea, the Gulf of Mexico and Vietnam.

He went on to be join the senior management team of BP in 2010 and was chief executive of BP’s upstream business from April 2016 until 2020, where he was responsible for all of BP’s oil and gas exploration, development and production activities worldwide.

In February 2020, Bernard was appointed as Chief Executive Officer of BP, the most senior position in the company.

As leader he has set out the objective to transform BP from an Integrated Oil Company to an Integrated Energy company and to shift the company’s focus to sustainability and the role BP can play in supporting the world to reach net zero. He has set out a clear ambition for BP to become a net zero company by at the latest 2050.

Bernard is also very focussed on creating a workplace that is diverse, in terms of both gender and global diversity, and he is passionate about creating a company that cares about workers’ mental health, encouraging those in his leadership team to demonstrate “empathy with edge”.Under his leadership, Bernard has made significant improvements in process and personal safety, increased both gender and global diversity, and initiated a company-wide dialogue on mental health.

Since graduating, Bernard has maintained a very close and fruitful relationship with UCD, supporting Student Scholarship Programmes and the Capital Development Programme, and working with faculty and researchers in UCD Engineering to develop close partnerships.

We are very proud of Bernard’s achievements, and of what he continues to achieve, and I hope that he can be an inspiration to you as you embark upon your own careers.

I now call upon the Acting President of UCD, Professor Mark Rogers to award the Honorary Degree of Doctor of Science.

Praehonorabilis Praeses, totaque Universitas,

Praesento vobis hanc meam filiam, quam scio tam moribus quam doctrina habilem et idoneam esse quae admittatur, honoris causa, ad Gradum Doctoratus Scientiae; idque tibi fide mea testor ac spondeo, totique Academiae.