From February 2017 to September 2020, he was the fifteenth president of University College Cork.

[1][2] He was previously vice president and chief research officer at the University of Maryland.

[3] O'Shea was born in Cork, Ireland, and attended secondary school at Coláiste Chríost Rí.

[citation needed] O'Shea's area of expertise is in electromagnetics, electron-accelerators and free-electron lasers.

[7] On 14 June 2016, O'Shea was appointed the fifteenth president of University College Cork, effective from 1 February 2017.