Deirdre Lyons was born in Dublin, Ireland, graduating from University College Dublin in 1970. In 1977, Deirdre moved to Kentucky with her husband, Dr. Pearse Lyons, and their two small children, Aoife and Mark. Aoife held a Ph.D. in clinical psychology and worked at Alltech’s European Headquarters in Dunboyne, Ireland. Mark has a Ph.D. in solid state fermentation and is president and CEO of Alltech, having served as executive vice president and head of Greater China since 2011. 

Deirdre co-founded Alltech with her husband, Pearse, in 1980 to help farmers feed the world, raise healthy animals and protect the environment through natural, nutritional innovation. Today, Alltech is a $2 billion company with more than 5,000 employees supporting its business presence in over 120 countries. Deirdre is Alltech’s director of corporate image and design, which involves carefully architecting, designing and outfitting Alltech’s facilities in nearly 100 countries to ensure a consistent brand image.

She has achieved national and international accolades on behalf of Kentucky through her work on the historic Alltech FEI World Equestrian Games™ 2010; various art initiatives, including the annual Alltech Vocal Scholarship Competition and Alltech Celebration of Song; humanitarian endeavors as far away as Haiti and as close as local primary schools’ science laboratories; and numerous leadership boards in Kentucky, including the Kentucky Chamber of Commerce, the Kentucky Horse Park Foundation, the Kentucky Equine Humane Center, the University of Kentucky Sanders-Brown Center on Aging and the Lexington Convention Center.

Biography (PDF) | Photo (Hi-res JPG)