Posted 01 June 2011
UCD professors elected to Royal Irish Academy
In recognition of their outstanding achievements, six UCD professors have been elected to the Royal Irish Academy. This is the highest academic honour in Ireland and membership is awarded to those who have achieved distinction in education and research.
The Royal Irish Academy (RIA) is Ireland’s premier learned body and vigorously promotes excellence in scholarship, recognises achievements in learning, direct research programmes and undertakes its own research projects, particularly in areas relating to Ireland and its heritage.
Pictured at the RIA election announcement: (backrow l-r) Prof Barry Smyth, UCD School of Computer Science and Informatics and Clarity; Prof Luke Drury, President of the RIA; Prof Alun Jones, UCD School of Geography, Planning and Environmental Policy; (front row l-r) Prof Jean Michel Picard, UCD School of Languages and Literatures; Prof Kathleen James-Chakraborty, UCD School of Art History and Cultural Policy; Prof Imelda Maher, UCD School of Law; and Prof Catherine Godson, UCD Conway Institute of Biomolecular and Biomedical Research
Imelda Maher, UCD School of Law
Imelda Maher was appointed to the prestigious Sutherland Chair of European Law at University College Dublin in 2006. She has an outstanding international reputation as a leading scholar of European law. A particular feature of Professor Maher’s scholarship is its interdisciplinary character. Her 1994 article ‘National Courts as European Community Courts’, published in Legal Studies, was nominated as one of the most influential articles in the 40-year history of the journal.
Jean Michel Picard, UCD School of Languages and Literatures
Jean-Michel Picard is an internationally distinguished scholar in Medieval Studies, with a specialisation in Hiberno-Latin. The principal thrust of his research concerns intercultural relations and cross-influences between Ireland and continental Europe in the Middle Ages. Most of his research is based on the reading of original sources written in Latin, Irish, French, Provencal and Italian found in manuscripts dating from between the seventh and sixteenth centuries. Professor Picard’s work on Adomnan’s Life of Columba is internationally recognised, and many of his articles are recommended reading for students of early Irish History at European and North American universities.
Barry Smyth, UCD School of Computer Science and Informatics and Clarity
Barry Smyth holds the Digital Chair of Computer Science in University College Dublin. He is Associate Editor of the ACM Transactions on Interactive Intelligent Systems and has chaired and organised a variety of international conferences. Professor Smyth’s leadership secured funding for the CLARITY Centre for Sensor Web Technologies, for which he currently serves as Director.
Catherine Godson, UCD Conway Institute of Biomolecular and Biomedical Research
Catherine Godson is Professor of Molecular Medicine at University College Dublin, where she leads a group of investigators focused on the mechanisms underlying the initiation, progression and potential regression of kidney disease. She is internationally recognised for her expertise in diabetic complications. Professor Godson’s work has provided important insights into the regulation of inflammatory processes in health and disease.
Kathleen James-Chakraborty, UCD School of Art History and Cultural Policy
Kathleen James-Chakraborty is Professor of Art History at University College Dublin. She is an internationally recognised authority on the history of twentieth-century German and American architecture and the links between them. Her principal contribution has been to highlight the social and commercial contexts of this architecture, through an examination of patronage and audience anchored in analyses of technology and space as well as style.
Alun Jones, UCD School of Geography, Planning and Environmental Policy
Alun Jones is Professor of Geography at University College Dublin. He is a leading authority on the political geography of the European Union, its governance, operation and relations with outside states and regions, particularly in the Mediterranean. He has been at the forefront of conceptual advances in Europeanisation and political processes. Professor Jones is a former Leverhulme Fellow and Senior Fellowship holder at St. Catherine’s College Oxford, and is an Academician of the Learned Societies for the Social Sciences in the United Kingdom.
The Royal Irish Academy, which was founded in 1785, currently has 455 Members. Those elected to membership are entitled to use the designation ‘MRIA’ after their name.
(Produced by UCD University Relations)
