Michaelmas 2007 E-zine

Welcome

Notices

Business and Employment Opportunities for Diaspora in Ireland North West
Creative Writing Workshop by Desmond Traynor 
Questionnaire for Graduates of Dublin Universities between 1997 and 2002
Exciting Research Opportunities in Computing

Creative Writing Workshop by Desmond Traynor

Desmond Traynor is facilitating a week-long Creative Writing workshop in a vineyard in the Tuscan hills, near Siena, next May.Daily 3 hour workshop for six days, plus trips to Siena & nearby villages
Tuition, accom, breakfast, dinner & wine, transfers, only $1600 (€1100)
The dates available are: May 10-17; May 17-24; and possibly June 7-14.
Visit www.ilchiostro.com for more information, and contact Des at 086 8954251 classescourses@yahoo.com

Des is a Hennessy Award Winning Short Story Writer, who has also been nominated for the Hughes & Hughes Irish Novel of the Year Award, and has many creative and critical publications and reviews, with an MA in Anglo-Irish Literature from UCD and an M Phil with Distinction in Creative Writing from Trinity College.
Visit www.desmondtraynor.com

Questionnaire for Graduates of Dublin Universities between 1997 and 2002

Dr. Enda Murphy, BA (Science), PhD (Geography), is a former member of Trinity College staff at Trinity College. Dr. Murphy is currently working in the School of Geography, Planning and Environmental Policy at University College Dublin on a major research project examining the impact of the emerging creative class and the rise of creative industries on the competitiveness of EU metropolitan regions. There are 13 EU cities involved in the project with Dublin being one of those.

The central question the researchers are seeking to address: If knowledge and creativity are at the centre of economic growth and development and are the driving forces for new processes, businesses and industries, what is it about the Dublin metropolitan area that attracts people in those fields and what is it that keeps them here?

If you graduated from a Dublin university between 1997 and 2002, it would be of tremendous help to the success of our involvement in this European Research project if you took part in the ACRE survey. It takes around 10 minutes to complete and is completely confidential.

Link to online survey for Dublin Graduates:
http://www.fius.ie/Acredublinsurveygrads.html

If you have any further questions about the project, please do not hesitate to contact the team on 01 716 2712
www2.fmg.uva.nl/acre/index.html

Exciting Research Opportunities in Computing

Applications are invited for several post-doctoral research fellowships and post-graduate research positions in the Knowledge and Data Engineering Research Group (KDEG), Department of Computer Science, Trinity College Dublin. KDEG enjoys a world class reputation in Intelligent Systems and knowledge driven information systems. 
These positions are for three year durations and are supported under the Science Foundation Ireland, HEA Programme for Research in Third Level Institutions and European Commission Framework Programme. 
Successful candidates will have a degree in computer science, computer
engineering or related disciplines.

Closing date for applications is January 15th 2008.

For detailed information please refer to http://kdeg.cs.tcd.ie/vacancies

Family Notices

Our sympathies are with the families of our recently deceased Alumni.

James P. J. Flynn, MB, MA (1960)
Betty Diana Scott, BA (1942), MB, BCh, BAO (1944)
Dermod Owen-Flood, LLB, MA, QC (1955)

James P. J. Flynn, MB, MA (1960), FFCMRCPI, FACPM, FCCP

It was with deep regret that the many Irish friends of James (Seamus) Flynn learnt of his demise on the 9th of October, after a long illness fought with great courage. Seamus who was 71, was born in Castleknock, Carrick-on-Shannon, son of Judge Cathal Flynn and his American wife Mary. He qualified in medicine at Trinity College, before emigrating to the United States in 1964. There he studied and did his residency training in preventative and internal medicine at Johns Hopkins Hospital, in Baltimore. He went on to obtain his Masters Degree in public health from the Hopkins school of public health.

During his illustrious career in medicine and medical administration, he had served as the Director of both the Montebello Rehabilitation Hospital and the Maryland Institute for Emergency Medical Services Systems. He had also been the Chief Medical Officer at both the University Specialty Hospital and the Orthopaedic and Rehabilitation Hospital. He subsequently became head of the University of Maryland Shock Trauma Centre and the Medical Officer for the Maryland National Guard.

As a pulmonary specialist, Dr Flynn had been the chief of the Division of Respiratory Diseases in the 1970`s. In 1981 he became the Medical Director of Montebello State Hospital and its overall director five years later. Dr Flynn was appointed the Acting Director of the Shock Trauma Centre in 1989, a position he held concurrently with his other posts for three years.

Apart from the medical and arts degrees which he obtained from Trinity, he was a fellow of both the Irish and American Colleges of Physicians, the College of Chest Physicians, and the American College of Preventive Medicine. He was a former President of the Baltimore City Medical Society, the Maryland Thoracic Society, and the Maryland division of the American Geriatric Society. He had served as the state surgeon of the Maryland National Guard, and its chief medical officer for many years. Following his retirement he was appointed a Brigadier General in the Maryland Defence Force.

Seamus was renowned for his amazing memory of the names of everyone he met; he was referred to as the “man with the Rolodex brain”. He was also described by his friends as a “gifted communicator and an outstanding physician who related well with both academics and with his colleagues in the community.” Former American Senator F.X. Kelly called him “a humble giant who was a perfect leader, as everybody trusted and respected him”

He was especially kind and generous to all his friends and colleagues from Ireland, whom he always welcomed with exceptional hospitality when they visited Baltimore. He retained a deep loyalty to Trinity College – his Alma Mater, and was always ready to help the cause of the medical school at all appropriate events. In 2005 he hosted at his own expense, a reception for Trinity American Medical Alumni in Maryland to promote the Trinity Medical Foundation. Seamus was keenly looking forward to the tercentenary celebrations of the Medical School in 2011, and was hoping to be able to bring messages of best wishes and support from the American Alumni on that occasion. Sadly this is not to be.

At the funeral service former Irish Senator Dr Mary Henry read the following on behalf of the Provost John Hegarty: “The staff students and wider community of Trinity mourn the loss of our esteemed alumnus and ardent supporter. Seamus O Floinn`s life exemplified the very best of Irish scholarship. He fulfilled the mission of our ancient institution to bring knowledge and learning to Ireland and abroad. We are proud to have known him as a friend and a representative of Trinity College in the United States. We extend our deepest sympathy to his grieving family and friends.”

Seamus is survived by Lacy (Boyle) his wife for 41 years; and two brothers, Rear Admiral Cathal Flynn from California, and Anthony C.M. Flynn of Geneva, Switzerland.

Betty Diana Scott, BA (1942), MB, BCh, BAO (1944)

Scott, Betty Diana, wife of Colin Charles Jeeves and mother of Catherine Mary and Cynthia Anne, passed away peacefully at her home in Finchley, London on 22nd December 2006.

Dermod Owen-Flood, LLB, MA, QC (1955)

Dermod Owen-Flood, died at 76, in September 2006, in British Columbia, Canada. He is survived by his wife of 50 years, Pamela, and their children, Roderic, Marc and Deirdre.

Born in Dublin, the son of a professional soldier in the British Army, Owen-Flood was educated at Stonyhurst College, a Jesuit school in England. He studies law at Trinity College Dublin, where he was editor of the Trinity News. He also attended University of Munich in Germany.

During his university days, Owen-Flood acted in a Dublin theatre company, an experience he later credited with curing a childhood stutter and teaching him to use his voice and project his presence in making courtroom points.

After emigrating to Canada in 1956, he articled in Edmondon and later opened the first full-time law practice in Banff. In 1964, he arrived in Victoria and was admitted to the British Columbia bar. He was made Queen’s Counsel in 1983 and practised until 1987, when he was named judge of what was then the County Court of Vancouver Island. In 1990, he was appointed justice of the Supreme Court of British Columbia.

As a lawyer and a judge, Dermod Owen-Flood was known for his dramatic flair and courtroom charisma and is remembered for his humanity.

In a 1955 Trinity News profile, he was remembered as a man who “stood forth as the most vigorous and ardent champion of Truth in the short but lively history of this journal.”

Class Notes

Caroline Carswell, BA (1992)
Jane Grimson, BA, BAI (1970)
James Lindsay-Fynn, MA (1999)
Martin Ferguson Smith, BA (1962), MA (1965), MLitt (1965), LittD (1993)
Susannah McAleese BA (2000)
Dave Towey, BA (1997), MA (2000)

Carolone Carswell

Caroline Carswell was among sixteen awardees who received an award in recognition of their outstanding work in the community. The Social Entrepreneurs Ireland Awards Ceremony was held in Dublin on October 9, 2007.

Caroline Carswell, the founder of IrishDeafKids.ie was born profoundly deaf in Dublin, Ireland, but has led a normal life due to having good speech and lip-reading skills. With this website she aims to promote inclusive education for deaf children at mainstream schools and enable parents to help their deaf child realize their full potential in Irish society. 

IrishDeafKids.ie seeks to enable parents to make informed choices about their children’s education (whether to use speech or sign language, and to opt for mainstream or segregated schooling). Caroline intends it to be a central resource website for parents, teachers and educators of deaf children to network through message boards, share experiences, ideas, research and information. She also hopes the site can be used to raise governmental and public awareness of the challenges in educating deaf children and the need for funding.

“The fundamental change that I want to see in Ireland is for deaf people to play a full role in mainstream society without hearing people feeling awkward because they don’t know how to communicate…. As someone who was very happily educated in a mainstream environment, I would love to see other deaf children move through the educational system and achieve personal milestones in their own right. In short, to access the same opportunities that their hearing peers do, and to be on an equal footing.”

Please see www.IrishDeafKids.ie for more information.

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Jane Grimson, BA, BAI (1970)

Prof Jane Grimson, Director of the Centre of Health Informatics, Trinity College Dublin has been awarded the O’Moore Medal by the Health Informatics Society of Ireland (HISI).  The HISI presented Prof Grimson, President of the society for the past eight years, with this honour in recognition of her outstanding contribution to the development of healthcare informatics with Ireland and throughout the world.

Among Prof Grimson’s many achievements, is the founding of the Centre for Health Informatics (CHI) at Trinity College in 1990 with Professor Rory O’Moore, after whom the O’Moore Medal was originally named. The CHI brings together researchers from computer science, engineering, management science and clinicians to work together on education, research and awareness of Health Informatics.

Prof Grimson currently holds a personal chair in Health Informatics at TCD and has in the past served as Dean of Engineering and Systems Sciences, Pro-Dean of Research and was Vice-Provost of Trinity College from 2000-2004.  Prof Grimson has also served as President of Engineers Ireland, the Irish Academy of Engineering, and the Irish Computer Society. She is currently a member of the Board of Science Foundation Ireland, of the Energy Research Council, the European Research Advisory Board, and the Board of the Adelaide and Meath Hospitals incorporating the National Children’s Hospital.

The O’Moore Medal is named after Prof Rory O'Moore, Chairman of the Section of Healthcare Informatics in the Royal Academy of Medicine in Ireland and past chairman of HISI Health Care Informatics Society of Ireland and the European Federation for Medical Informatics. The award was first awarded to Prof O'Moore for his contribution to the development of Healthcare Informatics in Ireland. Since then, the Healthcare Informatics Society of Ireland awards the O'Moore Medal as appropriate to individuals or organisations that have made a major contribution to Healthcare Informatics.

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James Lindsay-Fynn, MA (1999)

James Lindsay-Fynn and his team-mates were winners of the Gold Medal in the lightweight four for Great Britain at the World Rowing Championships this year in Munich. Please see for more information http://www.tcd.ie/Sport/index.php?nodeId=53&documentId=82

According to James rowing at Trinity was a major stepping-stone towards this achievement and it’s now back to the hard grind of winter training leading up to the Beijing Olympics where James and his team-mates aim to defend their position!

More about James:

TCD 1994-1998 - Natural Sciences
Captain of DU Boat Club 1998
Bronze medal for Ireland at World Championships 1999

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Martin Ferguson Smith, BA (1962), MA (1965), MLitt (1965), LittD (1993)

Professor Martin Ferguson Smith, who was appointed an OBE in the Birthday Honours List in June 2007 “for services to Scholarship”, received his award from the Queen at Buckingham Palace in October. He was accompanied by his daughter, Lucinda, and granddaughter, Ciara. 

Since taking early retirement from a Chair of Classics at Durham University in 1995, Martin has lived on Foula, the remotest (and windiest!) of the Shetlands, where he combines scholarly research and writing with the care of his gardens and two Highland cows. He is best known for his work on the Roman poet Lucretius and, above all, for the discovery and publication, over a period of 40 years, of numerous ancient Greek philosophical texts inscribed on stone at Oinoanda in the mountains of southern Turkey. 

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Susannah McAleese BA (2000)

Susannah McAleese has been appointed to the UK Trust for TCD.

Susannah is a Vice President at Bank of America, based in London. She is responsible for marketing structured credit products to Irish institutional investors.  In her seven years at Bank of America, Susannah has marketed other financial products (currencies, interest rates and flow credit products) to different European regions.  During this time, she also took a 12-month sabbatical (2005/2006) to work for an NGO called CIPPEC, based in Buenos Aires, Argentina.  She worked in their Economic Development Area.  Susannah is also involved with Bank of America's recruitment drive at Irish Universities.

Susannah graduated from Trinity College Dublin in 2000, with a BA in Economics and Business.

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Dave Towey, BA (1997), MA (2000)

Dr. Dave Towey has been travelling around Asia for about 10 years, and is now an assistant professor at a small university in southern China. Dave has been just awarded the title of "Advanced Teacher" by the local city government, the first time such an award has been given to a foreigner. An English version of the story is here: http://zhuhai.expat9.com/article/city-honours-irish-university-teacher

http://www.uic.edu.hk/~davetowey
United International College (http://www.uic.edu.hk)

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Alumni Events

Trinity College Dublin’s Inaugural Alumni Awards

Renowned actor Ingrid Craigie, CEO of the Office of Fair Trade in the UK, John Fingleton, former CEO of Atlantic Philanthropies, John Healy and the international developer and Ireland’s former Honorary Consul General in Singapore, Dr. Stanley Quek were the four recipients of Trinity College’s Inaugural Alumni Awards which were presented in Trinity College on Friday, October 19th last. They were presented with the awards in recognition of their achievement in their respective fields and the contribution they have made both in Ireland and internationally. This is the first year TCD has organised the Alumni Awards and the awardees for 2007 were selected by a committee chaired by Dr Thomas Mitchell.

Trinity Hall Centenary

An event will be held on the weekend of the 29th August 2008 to celebrate the centenary of the opening of Trinity Hall.

Those interested in attending, or contributing stories or artefacts, should contact the Warden (Brendan Tangney) at warden@tcd.ie and keep an eye on the Hall website for further information. http://www.wardentrinityhall.tcdlife.ie/

Medical Class of 1974 Reunion in Boston

Medical class of 1974 reunion in Boston took place in October. As you see from the photograph we managed to find a good number of class members for the reunion festivities. A very special thanks to John McLaughlin, Declan Quinn and Robin Young for hatching the plot and making it all happen and giving Gilli and myself an excuse for a holiday in New England.

We had nine class members plus their partners attending the functions. Most had assembled from North America but several of us had travelled from the UK. As a result of the reunion I have put together a class Yahoo Group at
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/tcdmed1974 as a mailing list and means of sharing news from class members. At the moment we have 22 members in the group but we would like to invite any other class members who have email addresses to come and join the group. We hope to be able to use the group to facilitate other class reunions in the future.

Ontario Alumni Dinner

The fifth annual dinner saw the group move to The National Club at 303 Bay Street. Here a gathering of approximately 60 people spent a relaxed and enjoyable evening with our guest speaker, Steve Paikin of TV Ontario together with his wife Francesca and daughter Giulia.

The evening began in the customary way with John Payne providing a brief summary of the year's activities and then giving the toast to Canada. In particular, the committee had been invited to attend a reception of Cambridge, Harvard, Oxford, Princeton and Yale Alumni at the Spoke Club in May. This proved to be a very convivial affair and resulted in representatives of Oxford (Simon Chester and his wife Anna Tharyan) and Cambridge (Maggie Norman and Lindsay Shaddy) attending our dinner. Their presence may mark the start of a new direction for our alumni group, one marked by combined dinners and activities necessitated by the change in demographics, due to the decreasing numbers of alumni emigrating to Canada.

For our own gatherings, we had another well attended pub night close to Paddy's Day in P.J. O'Brien's on Colborne Street. There was also the opening of Ireland Park in June and the reception with Mary McAleese, the President of Ireland.

This year we again asked some long time supporters to deliver the toasts. Marcus Beresford began before the meal by giving the toast to Ireland, and Andy O'Breslin proposed the toast to Trinity. Between both Latin graces, which were said by Peter Hearn, the company sat down to stuffed Cornish hen followed by apple galette.

The guest speaker this year was Steve Paikin of TV Ontario. His is currently well known as the anchor and senior editor of TVO's new flagship current affairs program - The Agenda with Steve Paikin. Each evening, the program, which is live except for Fridays, deals with one or two current topics in some depth involving discussion and analysis between informed people. Prior to this he hosted TVO's Studio 2 and TVO's weekly foreign affairs series, Diplomatic Immunity, which began in 1998.

Steve has also produced several documentaries for TVO. In 1993, Return to The Warsaw Ghetto won the Silver Screen Award at the U.S. International Film and Video Festival as well as awards at Canada's Yorkton Film Festival and China's Shanghai Film Festival. He also went to Serbia, Croatia, and Bosnia and presented Balkan Madness in 1992. In 1996 Steve co-produced A Main Street Man, which chronicled the life of former Ontario premier William Davis. The Mike Harris government's controversial education reform Bill 160 was the subject of Teachers, Tories, and Turmoil in 1997. And Chairman of the Board: The Life and Death of John Robarts aired in 2001, on the occasion of the former Ontario premier's 40th anniversary of taking power.

In 2001, Steve wrote his first book, The Life: The Seductive Call of Politics for Penguin Canada. In 2003, he followed up with, The Dark Side: The Personal Price of a Political Life. His latest book, Public Triumph, Private Tragedy: The Double Life of John P. Robarts was published in March, 2005 and analyses the impact of former Ontario Premier John Robarts on the province.
This last book was the subject of Steve's speech to the group. He outlined the two sides of John Robarts life the political triumphs such as the Ontario Science Centre, five Universities and GO transit to the difficulties in his private life ending in his 1982 suicide. At the end Steve answered questions from the floor, which ranged from Robarts' portrait at Queens Park to today's politics.

The evening concluded with Kevin Harraher thanking Steve and presenting him with two books Trinity College Dublin: A Beautiful Place and Trinity College Dublin: the First 400 Years by J. V. Luce.

As last year, special thanks are due to John Cary for taking care of the detailed arrangements with the National Club and for his excellent choice of menu and wines, and also to Bill McConnell for assisting with the organization and communicating with alumni.

Alumni Branch News

Mid-Atlantic Branch
Northern Ireland Branch
TCD Association Oxford Branch
The UK Trust for Trinity College Dublin

Mid-Atlantic Branch

Mid-Atlantic branch at lunch kindly hosted in Downingtown, PA, by George and Debbie Holmes.

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Northern Ireland Branch

Sir Peter Froggatt, MA, MD, PhD, LLD. (1981 h.c.), former Pro-Chancellor University of Dublin was guest speaker at Northern Ireland Alumni Branch Annual Dinner at Malone Golf Club on 9 November 2007.   

L-R: Sir Peter Froggatt & Sir Antony Hart, BA, Barrister-at-Law; President, TCD Association of Northern Ireland

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TCD Association Oxford Branch

Gavin Lloyd is resigning as branch secretary after next year’s function in June 2008 having served twenty six years in that position. There is no obvious successor, and the Oxford Branch is therefore looking for a replacement. If none can be found, the Branch will cease to exist.

In the past the Oxford Branch has held functions once yearly, usually a dinner, fork supper, wine and cheese party or luncheon in June. Some forty to fifty members and guests normally attend.

If you are interested and willing to help, Gavin Lloyd would be very glad to hear from you.  It would be regrettable if the TCD Association had no branch in the city of a ‘Sister University’.  

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The UK Trust for Trinity College Dublin

The UK Trust for Trinity College Dublin launched a new website:
www.uktrustfortcd.org

Please take a browse!

Susannah McAleese has been appointed to the UK Trust.

Susannah is a Vice President at Bank of America, based in London. She is responsible for marketing structured credit products to Irish institutional investors.  In her seven years at Bank of America, Susannah has marketed other financial products (currencies, interest rates and flow credit products) to different European regions.  During this time, she also took a 12-month sabbatical (2005/2006) to work for an NGO called CIPPEC, based in Buenos Aires, Argentina.  She worked in their Economic Development Area.  Susannah is also involved with Bank of America's recruitment drive at Irish Universities.

Susannah graduated from Trinity College Dublin in 2000, with a BA in Economics and Business.

Interviews

Aoife Williams B.A. (1996)

Dermot Kelleher MB, BCh, BAO, BA (1978), MD (1994)

Aoife Williams B.A. (1996)

What are you doing with yourself these days?

I’m currently working with the Corporate Section of Dublin City Council as an Occupational Health and Safety Officer, responsible for the health and safety management of staff and their workplaces. Essentially I ensure legal compliance with a vast range of legislative requirements for the full array of job disciplines from engineers and architects to central laboratory staff. Principally this involves preparing health and safety strategies and developing internal policy and procedures in addition to carrying out regular review of safety statements and risk assessments and outlining safe operational procedures which identify and take account of all relevant hazards. I would also advise staff on a range of hazardous areas such as respiratory sensitizers; chemical agents; occupational diseases and explosive atmospheres. To help develop sound policies and workplace practices we work closely with the Health and Safety Authority and also with various advisory committees and task forces, which focus on specific occupations or hazards. It’s a very dynamic and assiduous section that I work in, which has much to do with the calibre of my colleagues, all of whom are third level graduates in science or engineering disciplines.

Why did you choose your current career?

I’ve taken a rather circuitous route to my current career. Immediately after my Nat Science degree from TCD I completed an MSc in Applied Environmental Science, which, due to being awarded an Honorary Research Associate for my work from Queen’s, led me into various posts with more of an emphasis on the natural environment. However, I developed an interest in risk management, and eventually specialised in it, while working in the eco-toxicology department of a Regulatory Affairs Company where I was involved in the preparation of EU and Biological Assessment dossiers, the re-classification of chemical preparations and reviewing risk assessments. I subsequently embarked on an MSc in Occupational Health and Safety Management to complement the practical knowledge of the area I’m working in.

How do you like to spend your free time?

In Dublin we have such a vast array of entertainment from theatre, art exhibitions and cinema and I avail of all of these with my friends, as well as creating our own amusement with shared meals, nights out and walks that can last for hours. My weekend activities consist of horse-riding which I adore, a past-time I’d like to make more time for but its impossible to do so, and the occasional Saturday afternoon I practice my skiing on the dry slopes of Kilternan Ski Club in the Dublin Mountains for a ski trip I’ve planned next February. A couple of times a year I return to my hometown of Ennis in Co. Clare to catch up with my school friends and some family.

What are your strongest memories of Trinity?

Most of my memories of Trinity are centred around the Hamilton Building, where the science and engineering students shared lecture theatres. I have such fond memories of my time in Trinity, some of the strongest of which revolve around the endless hours of conversation in the Lincoln Bar or lying on the grass during the summer months outside The Pav with my eclectic mixture of friends watching the cricket. It was here that I fooled quite a few of the boys into believing that I knew something about cricket! What is a ‘LBW’ anyway? I still don’t know! Of course the Trinity Ball stands out in my memory as being the pinnacle of the social calendar when my friends and I got together in wild abandon in our futile attempts to alleviate the stress of impending exams.

The bands and social events in the Junior Common Room during lunch hour features powerfully in my memory too, including the occasions, when the late Dermot Morgan did stand-up gigs in packed to capacity rooms well before the success of his ‘Father Ted’ days. Also, I remember Christmas Commons as being a particularly special occasion; dinner in the Dining Hall; the pungent odour of the chemistry labs; the feeling of serenity I experienced as I walked from College Green through the front arch into Front square, and passing the ever engaging Brendan Kennelly, poet, novelist and Professor of Modern Literature on his way to lectures.

It’s heart warming for me to be able to share my memories of Trinity with my mother who is also a TCD graduate and the knowledge that I’ve walked across the same cobble stones as my great-uncle Jack Byrne whom I never met, did almost 70 years ago when he studied medicine in 1938 continues to provide me with a wonderful sense of tradition.

Are you still in touch with other alumni?

Very much so. I regularly socialise with many of my alumni friends who still live in Dublin and actively maintain contact with those abroad and located around the country. While undertaking my MSc in Occupational H&S Management in DIT I befriended more TCD PhD graduates whom I hadn’t previously known. My ski trip in February will be spent with a number of my TCD alumni friends. I always try to make it to the annual Festive Home-Coming Event in December, which I enjoy immensely. My ticket has already been reserved for this year’s event! As my mother, Camille Williams, nee Baker-Acheson who graduated in 1962, is also an alumnus and a committee member of the Wicklow Branch of the TCD Association I have come to know alumni from her generation too. So for me Trinity has meant, not only growth and enrichment, a challenging vigorous invaluable education but also lifelong friendships.

Where do you see yourself in 5 years time?

Trinity, undeniably, left me with a desire for continued learning and although it’s almost impossible to predict the future with any certainty, I would like to think that I’ll be fully equipped with the necessary expertise and experience I need by then to take on a more senior management position either within the council or alternatively as a Health and Safety Consultant in the private sector. Of course, professionally I aim to have achieved chartered status as a member of IOSH. Ultimately, whatever course the next 5 years brings, I hope that I would continue to live life to the full doing what I enjoy while maintaining a healthy work-life balance.

Dermot Kelleher, MB, BCh, BAO, BA (1978), MD (1994)

Now that you are Head of School of Medicine at TCD, it will be interesting to hear you reflect on your time as a student here

I think my best memories of the School of Medicine are firstly of the time on the campus which was great fun at a social level. Academically, I was most interested in biochemistry as a subject. Professor Spencer was here at the time and he had just got the Wellcome building built and it was an exciting time in that area. And I think the most important time for me was when I went to clinical area at Sir Patrick Dun’s as a medical student. Sir Patrick Dun’s was such a wonderful hospital, with an open friendly atmosphere and great teaching from Peter Daly, who was the tutor at the time, and Donald Weir and Joe Kirker in medicine and people like David Lane in surgery. They opened my eyes to medicine as it should be practised with calm, constant enquiry, constant interest in the patients and that’s really when I started to feel that academic medicine was my career.

And your interest in research, do you feel it was an important part of your education?

I got into habit of reading the literature at a relatively early stage and subsequently worked with Donald Weir at Sir Patrick Dun’s, who always tried to push the boundaries in teaching to make you think outside the box – that was a huge influence.

Were the people you mentioned your role models from your time as a student?

Donald Weir has, definitely, been the main influence on my career. And Donald was, I suppose, in some way a protégé of Peter Gatenby. I guess Peter Gatenby started the seed which brought about the strength of the medical school. Donald as an individual, I would have to say, was an inspiration. He influenced a huge number of people and you can see his protégés in all areas of medicine. In St. James’s Hospital, Shaun McCann, Peter Daly, Con Feighery, and others trained with Donald at Sir Patrick Dun’s.

What is the major difference in the School compared to the time you were a student?

One of the big differences is the hospital structure. Previously we were scattered around seven small hospitals. Now we are in two big hospitals. That created challenges. We have gained the critical mass but we have lost the intimacy of the smaller hospitals. That intimacy was critical to the personal development of many of us….in fact I met my wife at the Meath Hospital! And our challenge is to recreate this kind of intimacy in larger hospital surroundings. On a broader front you would say that academic medicine and teaching have gone through a whole set of changes. Currently we are restructuring the curriculum and Prof. Shaun McCann is leading that process. We are trying to get much earlier clinical contact and clinical confidence in the students so that they are fully prepared when they go into hospital practice. The other big area is biomedical research – it was a feature when I was a student with Donald Weir and John Scott in Department of Biochemistry publishing in premier journals. But there has been a big explosion in biomedical research not only in quantity but also with a broader improvement in quality. The development of the Institute of Molecular Medicine and Dublin Molecular Medicine Centre really helped this process.

Now that you are almost two years into the job – you started in February 2006 – where do you see the Schools’ strengths and weaknesses and what would you like to accomplish during your tenure?

This is a big question! We now have a real impetus for curricular change and reform and that is proceeding in a way that will guarantee that we will have high quality graduates into the future. At the research end we have strengths in immunology, neuropsychiatric disease and cancer – and those strengths are beginning to be consolidated and we are retaining critical mass in those areas. I think we are being seen externally as having great strengths. It is very important that when we talk about these we don’t talk about the School of Medicine in isolation because we work very closely with other schools like Biochemistry and Immunology and Psychology in terms of creating critical mass in the key areas. I think we are visible as a medical school with real strength in research and we have to keep developing. Regarding the weaknesses, to some extent there is still a lot of fragmentation and that traditionally we have tended not to really focus. The big change now is that we are really focusing on areas of strengths. In addition, I suppose, one of the key aims of the medical school is to feel integrated within the university. That’s again something we are working on quite well right now. There are stronger links between Bioengineering and Surgery and Psychiatry and Psychology, those sorts of areas. Lastly, I think, if we are looking forward, what do we need to do? To my mind, the plan for development of an academic medical center addresses many of these issues. It puts a strong academic dimension into teaching hospitals and it brings in a completely new faculty from among the consultants in the teaching hospitals.

As the School is getting ready to celebrate the Tercentenary in 2011, how do you see this anniversary helping the School’s development?

Tercentenary is a big event in any institution. Certainly in the School of Medicine of Trinity College it should be a huge event. If you go back a hundred years to bicentenary, Trinity College had representatives here from St. Petersburg and Tokyo, from medical schools from all over the world. Most importantly, at that time throughout the 19th century and early part of the 20th century, I suppose, the medical school was one of the premier schools in the world. People like Stokes and Graves and all of the famous physicians of former times were strongly affiliated. They were the clinical researchers of their day. They made observations, they wrote them up, they published them, and they published the textbooks. These were the leaders. Where we are now? We are a small school but we are punching well above our weight in international terms and in terms of the sorts of publications. People like Prof O’Morain have written some of the most cited papers in their field – citation classics. But what we really have to do is to build on that to make this School into a very strong international medical school, one that will be recognized by people around the world. And the Tercentenary is, I think, the rocket fuel that should stimulate us to do something in a big burst over the next three or four years to establish ourselves at the pinnacle.

You are a world-class scientist and I am sure the decision to become head of the School was not an easy one because you have many administrative responsibilities. Having made that leap, what is rewarding about the job you are trying to do?

The rewards will come if we manage to achieve what we want to achieve. Certainly research has always been a very important driver for me. But patient care and education are also important drivers for me ensuring that we have medical students who are interested and committed and graduates who are interested and committed. I’ve been able so far to juggle my research priorities and still win grants and publish as head of school but it’s difficult – you have to give up some things in order to accomplish other things. Certainly, big plans for the School are not just about building buildings but about building human resource for the School as well. What I would like to see is that in the course of the next couple of years we implement our strategic plan which we have drawn up, that we recruit the important people that we have identified in that strategic plan and we then have a critical mass of really high quality people in the university, that anybody around the world can say that’s a strong medical school. If I can accomplish that then I will be very happy.

Could you please tell me how your family is coping with your being so busy? Are there any doctors in the pipeline?

My wife Jean is a doctor as well. But she has been through a slightly different route and has become a CEO first of a pharmaceutical company and now of Asthma Society of Ireland. So she has got medicine and business effectively combined. I have to say Jean has coped very well with all of my efforts and has been a fantastic support to me in everything I do and fully behind me in everything. I don’t think I have any doctors in the pipeline, I am afraid. My daughter, Clara is doing a master’s degree in human rights law in Nottingham. And my son Sean is doing his Leaving Cert next year and I don’t think he will be doing medicine. He is more interesting in other subjects. Probably the way Jean and I worked over the years may have put them off medicine…But they have been hugely supportive and they both are individual personalities and have their own way forward.

You are very busy with your work. Do you find time for interests outside work?

I am a football supporter big time and I generally go to watch all the Irish matches and sometimes go over to watch Manchester United in Old Trafford. I played football up to my mid forties in the Trinity Super League. I think, sport is important, and kicking a ball around was a great release! I also read a lot outside of medicine.

 

Sports

James Lindsay-Fynn (MA, 1999)

James and his team-mates were winners of the Gold Medal in the lightweight four for Great Britain at the World Rowing Championships this year in Munich.

Please see for more information http://www.tcd.ie/Sport/index.php?nodeId=53&documentId=82

According to James rowing at Trinity was a major stepping-stone towards this achievement and it’s now back to the hard grind of winter training leading up to the Beijing Olympics where James and his team-mates aim to defend their position!

For full details of sports news please see:
www.tcd.ie/Sport/index.php?nodeId=8&title=News