New Fellows and Scholars Announced
Posted on: 13 April 2015
Trinity College Dublin today celebrated the beginning of the annual Trinity Week with the announcement of 67 new Scholars, 11 new Fellows and two Honorary Fellows. The ceremony is one of the oldest and most colourful at Trinity College and marks the beginning of the annual Trinity Week, a long established celebration of College life.
The announcement was made by the Provost of Trinity, Dr Patrick Prendergast, surrounded by members of the Board of the College in full academic gowns on the steps of the Public Theatre. Students and staff celebrated the occasion with colleagues, friends and families in Front Square.
Scholars are students who have demonstrated exceptional knowledge and understanding of their subjects and are elected annually in various subjects as the result of an examination held in the week before the start of Hilary term.
“This is always a special day for Trinity, celebrating the academic achievement of our new Fellows and Scholars. This year also sees the highest number of women Fellows elected to date, with the number of women exceeding men, for the first time in the College’s history. ‘Strengthening Community’ is one of the nine goals of the Strategic Plan launched in November last, emphasising that inclusivity and diversity are core values driving excellence in all aspects of College life,” said Provost, Dr Patrick Prendergast.
Research achievement or scholarship of a high order is the primary qualification for Fellowship, along with evidence of the candidate’s contribution to the academic life of the College and effective record of teaching.
Seven Fellowships and four Professorial Fellowships were elected. Additionally two Honorary Fellowships were awarded, one to Professor Yvonne Galligan of Queen’s University Belfast and Founding Director of the Centre for Advancement of Women in Politics (CAWP). Professor Galligan is closely associated with Trinity through her involvement in the Athena SWAN programme implemented by the College that aims to advance women’s careers in science, technology, engineering, mathematics and medicine (STEMM) employment in higher education and research
A second Honorary Fellowship was awarded to Mr Leo Goodstadt, CBE who has a distinguished academic background in economics, banking and policy-making in Hong Kong. He has a long-standing association with the College through the School of Business and the development of the Trinity Centre for Asian Studies.
This year to celebrate Trinity Week, the Faculty of Engineering, Mathematics and Science has put together a week of exciting events including a series of talks and activities around the theme of Light. Trinity Week will run from April 11th – 17th events are free and open to the public. A full programme of events can be found on www.tcd.ie/trinityweek.