Royal Irish Academy elects 28 new members

Posted on: 29 May 2023

Newly elected members from Trinity College Dublin are Provost Linda Doyle, Professor Siobhán Clarke, Professor Mike Lyons, Professor Sinéad Ryan, Professor Andrew Murphy and Professor Linda Hogan. 

Linda Doyle was appointed as the 45th provost of Trinity College Dublin in 2021, the first woman in the College’s history to hold that position. She is a fellow of the College and holds a personal chair of Engineering and The Arts. Her expertise is in the fields of wireless communications, cognitive radio, reconfigurable networks, spectrum management and creative arts practices.

Siobhán Clarke is the chair professor of Software Systems at Trinity College Dublin. Her expertise is in middleware models for ensuring spatio/temporal resilience of software service provisioning in dynamic environments, where both service producers and consumers may be mobile. She has published widely on this topic in the top journals in the field. She was recently appointed to the editorial board of the Communications of the Association of Computing Machinery.

Mike Lyons is a professor in Physical Chemistry and a senior fellow of Trinity College Dublin, where he is the head of the School of Chemistry. He has an international reputation for research in interfacial electrochemistry, and in particular for combining experiment and theoretical modelling.

Sinéad Ryan holds a chair of Theoretical High Energy Physics at the School of Mathematics, Trinity College Dublin and is Trinity’s Dean of Research. She is a world leader in Lattice Quantum Field Theory, making important contributions in fundamental physics to our understanding of quantum chromodynamics—the theory of the strong nuclear force.

Linda Hogan is professor of Ecumenics at Trinity College Dublin. A distinguished scholar, she is an internationally recognised leader in the field of social and political ethics. Known for her ground-breaking non-foundationalist ethics of human rights.

Andrew Murphy is the 1867 Professor of English Literature and a fellow of Trinity College Dublin. His monumental Shakespeare in print (2nd edition 2021) established him as a leading Shakespearean scholar of his generation. He has explored cultural contexts for book history in Shakespeare for the people (2008) and Ireland, reading and cultural nationalism (2018). He is an honorary professor at the University of St Andrews.

Professor Pat Guiry, President of the Royal Irish Academy, said: ‘These individuals, elected by their peers, have made exceptional contributions in their fields of endeavour. We are delighted to recognise their achievements. As Members of the Academy, they will support the RIA by engaging and leading in activities that strengthen the international recognition of the Academy’s scholarship and serve the public good through their knowledge and insight. Today marks another step forward in our commitment to diversity of our Membership with 15 women elected.’

The Academy has been honouring Ireland’s leading contributors to the world of learning since its establishment in 1785 and those elected by their peers are entitled to use the designation ‘MRIA’ after their name. Full citations are available in the Admittance Day Booklet.

The 28 new Members of the Royal Irish Academy are

New Honorary Members: Professor Gráinne de Búrca, New York University; Professor Patrick Griffin, University of Notre Dame; Professor Dr Rudolf Krska, University of Natural Resources and Life Sciences, Vienna; Professor Máire Ní Mhaonaigh, Cambridge University; Professor Tim Palmer, University of Oxford; Professor Gordon Wallace*, University of Wollongong New Members Science Professor Louise Allcock*, University of Galway; Professor Siobhán Clarke, Trinity College Dublin; Professor Andrew Cooper, Ulster University; Professor Fengzhou Fang, University College Dublin; Professor John Laffey*, University of Galway; Professor Chris Lynch, University College Cork; Professor Mike Lyons, Trinity College Dublin; Professor James O'Donnell, Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland; Professor Sinéad Ryan, Trinity College Dublin; Professor John Walsh, University College Dublin * Cannot attend today’s ceremony New Members Polite Literature & Antiquities (Humanities and Social Sciences) Professor Joanna Brück, University College Dublin; Professor Raffaella Folli, Ulster University; Professor Katy Hayward, Queen's University Belfast; Dr Róisín Healy, University of Galway; Professor Linda Hogan, Trinity College Dublin; Professor Helen Kelly-Holmes, University of Limerick; Professor Fiona Magowan, Queen's University Belfast; Mr Danny McCoy, IBEC; Professor Monica McWilliams*, Professor Emeritus Ulster University and Formerly Northern Ireland Women's Coalition; Professor Andrew Murphy, Trinity College Dublin; Professor Maggie O'Neill, University College Cork; Professor Diane Urquhart, Queen's University Belfast * Could not attend ceremony

There are 670 members of the Royal Irish Academy including Nobel Laureates William C. Campbell, Peter Agre and John O'Keefe; Frances Ruane, economist; Philip Lane, European Central Bank; Fabiola Gianotti, Director General CERN; Brigid Laffan, Irish political scientist; and Geraldine Byrne-Nason, Ambassador of Ireland to the United States of America.