Trinity set to appoint first woman Provost

Posted on: 05 February 2021

The next Provost of Trinity College Dublin will be a woman, it was confirmed today.

Three candidates, all of whom held senior academic roles at the University, have come through the interview and nomination stages of the appointment process for Trinity’s highest-ranking officer. The three candidates are all women, so for the first time in its 429-year history Trinity will be led by a female academic.

The nominees are:

Professor Linda Doyle, Professor of Engineering and The Arts, who has previously held the role of Dean of Research.

Professor Linda Hogan, Professor of Ecumenics, who has served as Trinity’s Vice-Provost/Chief Academic Officer.

Professor Jane Ohlmeyer, Erasmus Smith’s Professor of Modern History, who was Trinity’s first Vice-President for Global Relations.

The current Provost, Dr Patrick Prendergast, will complete his term of office on the 31st of July and the new Provost will take office on the 1st of August 2021. The new term of office runs for ten years to 2031.

The position of Provost was advertised internationally in 2020. There are three stages to the appointment process.

First, interviews took place in January after which each successful candidate proceeded to the second stage and was asked to seek 12 nominations from the electorate.

The third stage, which begins now, is a formal campaign period that runs until the 7th of April 2021.

Finally, the election will take place electronically on Saturday the 10 April 2021 and the name of the elected candidate will then go to Board for appointment.

Media Contact:

Tom Molloy, Director of public affairs and communications | Tom.Molloy@tcd.ie | +353 1 896 4167