GAA’s Liam Mulvihill, Soprano Veronica Dunne and Iranian Nobel Prize Winner Shirin Ebadi among recipients of Honorary Degrees at TCD
Posted on: 14 December 2007
Director Gener
al
of the GAA, Liam Mulvihill, one of Ireland’s leading sport ad
m
inistr
at
ors and regarded as the most progressive Director General in the history of the GAA was conferred with a Doctor in Laws today (Friday, December 14th) at Trinity College Dublin. He is among five candidates to receive honorary degrees.
While GAA chief, he succeeded in transfor
m
ing the association’s image and
m
aking it
m
ore inclusive. He oversaw the inclusion of wo
m
en’s footb
al
l into the GAA, led the refurbish
m
ent of
Croke
Park
and the develop
m
ent of a
m
useu
m
there and worked tireles
sl
y for the re
m
ov
al
of clause 42 and the opening of
Croke
Park
to
Rugby
and So
cc
er.
Shirin Ebadi
LL.D.
Winner of the Nobel Prize for Peace 2003, Shrin Ebadi is the first Iranian and first Muslim woman to win the Nobel Peace Prize. She was also the first appointed female judge in
Iran
, but was later demoted from that position when the revolutionaries removed all women from the bench. She currently practices as a lawyer and remains a potent force in campaigning for the rights of women and children in the country and has published Iran Awakening: A
m
e
m
oir of revolution and hope. She will be conferred with a Doctor in Laws
Veronica Dunne Mus. D
The renowned soprano, teacher, and prominent promoter of operatic singing teaches voice training at the
DIT
College
of Music as well as the
Royal
Irish
Academy
of Music where most of
Ireland
‘s fa
m
ous opera singers have been her students. She is also founder of the ‘Veronica Dunne Intern
at
ion
al
Singing Competition’. She will receive a Doctor in Music for her contribution to music in
Ireland
.
Ngozi Okonjo-Iwe
al
a Litt.D
Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala was Finance Minister of
Nigeria
from 2003-2006 and was also Foreign Minister for a brief period. She has since left political life and has been appointed this month as Managing Director of the World Bank, having for
m
erly held office as vice-president and corporate secretary. A deter
m
ined refor
m
ist, she is the recipient of nu
m
erous awards and honours, the l
at
est being the Euro
m
arket Foru
m
award for vision and courage in the design and
i
m
ple
m
ent
at
ion of
Nigeria
‘s econo
m
ic refor
m
programme. She will be conferred with a Doctor in Letters.
Vaira Vīķe-Freiberga LL.D.
Vaira Vīķe-Freiberga was President of the
Republic
of
Latvia
from 1999 up until July of this year. She played a leading role in the transformation of the country in recent years which culminated with
Latvia
‘s entry into the European Union. She is considered an outspoken pundit on soci
al
issues,
m
or
al
v
al
ues, European historic
al
di
al
ogue and democracy and was awarded the 2005 Hannah Arendt Prize for politic
al
thought. She will be conferred with a Doctor in Laws.
