Professor Ignatius McGovern
Dr Ignatius McGovern was born in Coleraine. He graduated in Physics from Queen’s University Belfast in 1970. Following PhD studies at Queen’s University and postdoctoral work in The University of Pennsylvania and The University of Wisconsin, he was appointed Lecturer in Physics at Trinity College Dublin in 1979. He was elected to Fellowship in 1990.
He is a Fellow of The Institute of Physics and is a past-Chair of The Institute in Ireland. He served on various committees within The Large Scale Facilities Programme of The European Commission. His research speciality is the application of Synchrotron Radiation in the study of crystalline surfaces. Dr McGovern is also an established poet. Under the pen name Iggy McGovern, he has published three collections of poetry with Dedalus Press; his debut collection won the inaugural Glen Dimplex New Writers Award for Poetry. Other awards include The Hennessy Award for Poetry and The Ireland Chair of Poetry Bursary. Other publications include a verse biography of the 19th century Irish mathematician Sir Willian Rowan Hamilton, published by Quaternia Press. He regularly contributes celebratory verse on College occasions.
Professor McGovern was elected Pro-Chancellor of the University in 2020.