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Launch of “The Library of the Future; the Future of the Library”

Launch of “The Library of the Future; the Future of the Library”, Programme of Events for 2015-16

8 October 2015 17:30 – 19:00
Paccar Theatre, Science Gallery

Dr John Bowman, historian and broadcaster, mediated a discussion between the Provost, Dr Patrick Prendergast; the Dean of Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences, Professor Darryl Jones; the Dean of Health Sciences, Professor Mary McCarron; the Dean of Engineering, Maths and Science, Professor Vinny Cahill; and the Librarian and College Archivist, Helen Shenton, around the key societal, educational and research issues that affect any and every university and library.

As part of the event the Provost launched The Library of Trinity College Dublin – Strategy 2015-2020 and the Programme of Events for 2015-16.

Dr John Bowman

Dr Patrick Prendergast

In his address, the Provost asked:

“What sort of university will we be, and with what sort of library?”

Professor Darryl Jones

Professor Mary McCarron

Click here to see Professor Mary McCarron’s presentation.

Professor Vinny Cahill

Helen Shenton

Biographies of speakers:

John BowmanJohn Bowman is a broadcaster and historian. He has presented current affairs, historical and election-results programmes on RTE radio and television since the 1960s. He is author of Window and Mirror: RTE Television, 1961-2011, the first comprehensive history of Irish television and of  De Valera and the Ulster Question: 1917–1973 which won the Ewart-Biggs Prize for its contribution to North-South understanding. He was elected an Honorary Fellow of Trinity College Dublin in 2009 and awarded an Honorary Doctorate by UCD in 2010.

Patrick Prendergast Ph.D. Sc.D.
President & Provost

p-prendergastPatrick Prendergast was elected by academic staff and student representatives as the 44th Provost of Trinity College Dublin, coming into office on August 1st, 2011. The Provost is the Head of the university, equivalent to President or Rector in other universities. He previously served as the Vice-Provost & Chief Academic Officer (2008-2011) and Dean of Graduate Studies (2004-2007). He was formerly Professor of Bioengineering where he introduced the teaching of biomechanics into the engineering curriculum, and published several hundred articles related to implant design and tissue mechanobiology.

Since coming into office as Provost, Dr Prendergast has worked to strengthen Trinity’s reputation as a university of global consequence, known for realizing student potential and for research and scholarship that benefits Ireland and the world. Trinity has developed a Global Relations Strategy which is succeeding in revitalising its partnerships abroad, has engaged with industry through a new Innovation & Entrepreneurship Strategy, and has restructured the university’s administration into three divisions. Projects under development include the new Trinity School of Business and the I&E Hub, as well as the development of E3: the Engineering, Energy, and the Environment Institute. These developments culminated in the launch of a new Strategic Plan for Trinity in November 2014.

Dr Prendergast first came to Trinity in 1983 as an undergraduate student. After post-doctoral positions in Bologna, Italy and Nijmegen, The Netherlands, he was appointed to the engineering faculty in Trinity College Dublin in 1995. Dr Prendergast holds a BA, BAI, PhD, and ScD degrees, all from Trinity College Dublin. He is a Member of the Royal Irish Academy (MRIA), a Fellow of the Irish Academy of Engineering (FIAE) and in 2013 was elected an International Fellow of the Royal Academy of Engineering (FREng) in the UK.

He has held Visiting Professorships at the Institute of Fundamental Technological Research, Poland; Erasmus University Rotterdam; The Technical University of Delft; and, in 2008, at University Politicnic of Catalonia (UPC), Barcelona.

He served on the board of several companies, most recently ClearStream Technologies plc, and has served on the board of Tallaght Hospital, a large academic hospital in Dublin. He was appointed by the European Commission to the Governing Board of the European Institute of Innovation and Technology (EIT) in 2012.

Professor Darryl Jones
Dean of Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences

darryl-jonesDarryl Jones is Dean of the Faculty of Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences and Professor in the School of English at Trinity College Dublin. His research primarily focuses on nineteenth-century and Edwardian genre fiction, with a particular interest in horror fiction and film. He has also written on Jane Austen, Charles Dickens and on nineteenth and twentieth-century catastrophe and apocalypse. He is the author or editor of nine books and numerous articles. He is currently working on the gothic tales of Arthur Conan Doyle and H.G. Wells.

Professor Mary McCarron
Dean of Health Sciences

marymccarron2012Professor Mary McCarron took office on 01 October 2011 and has responsibility for the oversight of staffing, finance and strategic development in the Faculty of Health Sciences.

Prior to this appointment Professor McCarron served as Head of the School of Nursing & Midwifery at Trinity College which is the leading school for Nursing & Midwifery in Ireland and one of the largest schools in the University. In April 2011 Professor McCarron was elected as a Fellow of Trinity College in recognition for her outstanding achievements in research and teaching and her contribution to the academic life of Trinity College.

Professor McCarron undertook her nurse training at Stewarts Hospital in Palmerstown and James Connelly Hospital in Blanchardstown, Co Dublin. She was awarded an honours degree in Nursing from Dublin City University, and was the recipient of one of the first Clinical Fellowships awarded by the Health Research Board to Nurses and Midwives in Ireland where she undertook her PhD at Trinity College Dublin.

Professor Vinny Cahill
Dean of Engineering, Mathematics & Science

Vinny CahillProfessor Vinny Cahill is responsible for the provision of academic and strategic leadership within the Faculty of Engineering, Mathematics and Science and as such also oversees staffing and finance matters.

Professor Cahill has previously served as Dean & Vice-President for Research, Head of the Department of Computer Science and Director of Research for Computer Science and Statistics. He combines his role with teaching and research in the field of distributed computing systems.

Helen Shenton
Librarian and College Archivist

Helen-ShentonIn June 2014 Helen Shenton became the newly appointed Trinity College Dublin Librarian and College Archivist. Helen joined Trinity from Harvard where she oversaw the bringing together of the services of 73 separate libraries.

Prior to Harvard, Helen worked at the British Library where she led the care of the UK’s national documentary heritage collection and the national printed archive. That position followed the Victoria and Albert Museum in London where she had responsibility for the conservation and care of the world’s finest decorative arts collections and was deeply involved with major exhibitions at home and abroad.

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