Economist Dr Sean Barrett is inaugurated as new Pro-Chancellor
Posted on: 21 December 2018
The economist and former senator, Dr Sean Barrett was inaugurated as new Pro-Chancellor at Trinity last week at a special ceremony in the Provost’s House.
Dr Barrett previously worked as a senior lecturer at Trinity’s Department of Economics and is a Fellow of the College. In April 2011, he was elected to the Dublin University constituency of Seanad Éireann where he remained a senator until 2016.
Congratulating him on his election, Provost, Dr Patrick Prendergast, emphasised Dr Barrett’s many achievements both at Trinity and for the benefit of society:
“He has made his career in Trinity, and representing Trinity, for the past forty years and we could hardly hope for a Pro-Chancellor more experienced in the University’s ways, nor one more strongly devoted to its progression and advancement.”
“Here at Trinity, we recently agreed the four graduate attributes which we would like to underpin the Trinity education. We want our graduates: to think independently, to develop continuously, to communicate effectively and to act responsibly.”
“Sean embodies these attributes. It has always come naturally to him to move effortlessly between the Academy and the Public Square, to apply his research to real-life situations, to use his knowledge and experience to progress the ways things are run in the university and the country.”
Dr Barrett is a Fellow of Trinity College, Dublin and has served several terms on its Board. His College appointments include a term as Junior Dean and Registrar of Chambers between 1986 and 2000. He is one of the Vice-Presidents of the debating society College Historical Society, the Vice-President of Trinity’s Choral Society and President of the Dublin University Business and Economics Society (DUBES).
A graduate of University College Dublin (undergraduate degree and doctorate) in 1973, and of McMaster University in Hamilton, Ontario, he has been a member of Trinity College Dublin’s Department of Economics since 1977.
Dr Barrett’s main area of academic expertise is transport economics, particularly the civil aviation sector, including scholarship concerning Ryanair, Aer Lingus and the economics of airports, as well as the effects of regulation and deregulation. His other work concerns health economics and the economics of public policy.