Gerard Fealy is Associate Professor and currently the Head of Research & Innovation at the UCD School of Nursing, Midwifery & Health Systems. A former Dean of Nursing and Head of School at UCD, he is a UCD graduate with an honours Bachelors degree in nursing (BNS) and a Masters degree in education (MEd). He obtained a PhD from UCD in 2003 for research examining the history of apprenticeship nurse training in Ireland. He is a past recipient of the NUI Dr Mary L. Thornton Scholarship in Education. A registered nurse, he has a background in medical nursing and intensive care and he is currently researching aspects of older people's health.

Professor Fealy is a nursing historian and is Director of the UCD Irish Centre for Nursing & Midwifery History. He is the author of A History of Apprenticeship Nurse Training in Ireland (Routledge, 2006) and The Adelaide Hospital School of Nursing 1859-2009: A Commemorative History (Columba Press, 2009) and he teaches social history of Irish healthcare across several disciplines. He is also a researcher and writer on professional and disciplinary development issues in nursing, including nursing history, and is a member of a several international committees, including the Editorial Board of the Journal of Clinical Nursing.