Six TCD Academics Elected to the Royal Irish Academy
Posted on: 20 May 2009
Six Trinity College Dublin academics were admitted as Members of the Royal Irish Academy (RIA), in a special ceremony on May 15 last. Election to the Royal Irish Academy is the highest academic honour available to a scholar working in Ireland. TCD had the highest number of academics admitted to the RIA in the sciences this year than any other university.
The six new TCD members are Professor Daniel Bradley, Professor Tony Kavanagh, Professor Marina Lynch, Professor Damien McManus, Professor Kevin O’Rourke and Professor David Taylor.
Professor Nicholas Canny, President of the RIA, said: “the Academy’s new members are amongst a small group of academics in Ireland that set the international hallmark of excellence in their fields of study.”
Prof Daniel Bradley, Prof Tony Kavanagh, Prof Nicholas Canny (President, RIA),
Prof Damien McManus, Prof Marina Lynch, Prof David Taylor, and Prof Kevin O’Rourke
Professor Daniel Bradley is Professor of Population Genetics at TCD’s Smurfit Institute of Genetics. His research is focused on the use of modern DNA technology to analyse the genetic structure of human populations and livestock species, and the interaction of population genetics with archaeology, human and animal health, and international development.
Professor Tony Kavanagh is Professor of Molecular Genetics at TCD’s Smurfit Institute of Genetics Smurfit Institute. His research interests include plant genomics and plant improvements using classical and molecular genetic approaches. He has advised the Environmental Protection Agency, the Food Safety Authority and the European Academies Science Advisory Council on genetic modification and plant genomics.
Professor Marina Lynch is Professor of Cellular Neuroscience and is also Director of the Trinity College Institute of Neuroscience (TCIN). Her research focuses on age-related deterioration in neuronal function, and she has established the benefits of polyunsaturated fatty acids in relation to prevention of this.
Professor Damien McManus holds the Chair of Early Irish at Trinity College. He has published extensively on medieval Irish language and literature, with research concentrated on the Ogam inscriptions and the classical poetry of the 13th to 17th centuries. Since 2005 he has been co-editor of the journal Ériu, published by the Royal Irish Academy.
Professor Kevin O’Rourke is Professor of Economics, and specialises in the history of the international economy. His research interests centre on the political and technological underpinning of globalisation. He plays an active role in organising economic history training and research in Ireland and elsewhere in Europe.
Professor David Taylor is Professor of Materials Engineering, and holds fellowships in the Institute of Engineers of Ireland and the Royal Academy of Medicine in Ireland. He has an international reputation for his work on stress fracture and remodelling in living bone.
Desmond FitzGerald, Knight of Glin, who received an honorary doctorate from TCD in 2002 was also admitted to the RIA. He is President of the Irish Georgian Society and a Governor of the National Gallery of Ireland. Many of the faculty at TCD have previously been elected to Membership of the RIA, including Provost Dr John Hegarty.
The criterion for election to membership is a significant contribution to scholarly or scientific research as shown in the candidate’s published academic work. Membership of the Academy, which is by peer nomination and election, is limited to those scientists and scholars normally resident in Ireland.