UCD celebrates one of Canada’s most accomplished writers with honorary degree

Posted 20 December 2023

• UCD College of Business was delighted to presented former Yale Dean Professor Edward A. Snyder and Professor René Stulz, from Ohio State University, with honorary degrees

One of Canada’s most celebrated and accomplished writers, Jane Urquhart has been awarded an honorary degree by UCD in recognition of her outstanding contribution to building connections between her homeland and Ireland. 

The bestselling author has been a regular visitor to Ireland since the 1990s, using an Irish cottage in Kerry’s MacGillycuddy’s Reeks as a writing retreat.

Having written eight internationally acclaimed novels, among them The Whirlpool (winner, Le prix du meilleur livre étranger, France); Away (winner, Trillium Award, Canada); The Underpainter, (winner, Governor General’s Award, Canada; finalist, The Orange Prize, UK); and The Stone Carvers, (finalist, The Giller Prize and the Governor General’s Award, Canada; finalist, Booker Prize, UK), she has also authored four books of poetry, a collection of short fiction and a biography of Canadian author Lucy Maud Montgomery. 

Her writing has been translated into several foreign languages, and among her many accomplishments, Ms Uquhart is an Officer of the Order of Canada and Knight of the Order of Arts and Letters in France.  

“Uquhart has made a significant contribution to fostering connections between Ireland and Canada, spending at least part of the year living here over the last three decades,” said (opens in a new window)Dr Paul Halferty, who introduced the Canadian author on behalf of the UCD School of English, Drama and Film.

“She has served on the prize juries for the Dublin IMPAC Award, for the Kerry Group Irish Novel of the year Award, and in 2017-18, we at UCD were fortunate enough to welcome her as the Craig Dobbin Visiting Chair of Canadian Studies. 

“While serving as Chair, she organised a conference titled “Imagining: Home – Literary Connections between Ireland and Canada”. A multi-day event, it was to host a number of internationally acclaimed Irish and Canadian authors. 

“In a rather unfortunate and extremely ironic turn of events, “Imagining: Home” was cancelled due to the heaviest snowfall in Ireland for more than a decade. At the time, we remarked that Urquhart had tried to bring the best of Canadian literary culture to Ireland, but, in the end, only brought the weather.”

Adding: “A true Canadian, however, undeterred by snow, Urquhart managed to restage the event on a beautiful evening in June, when Ireland’s weather was much more hospitable - there was not even a drop of rain.”

Alongside the honorary for Ms Uquhart, UCD was delighted to presented two other individuals with honorary degrees during the December conferrings in recognition for their lasting contributions.

Former Yale Dean Professor Edward A. Snyder was recognised for leading the creation of the Global Network of Advanced Management and his other accomplishments as dean of three top business schools.

A global collection of graduate business schools, the Global Network for Advanced Management seeks to foster intellectual ties among business schools, students, and deans from both economically strong regions and those on the horizon of economic development. 

The UCD Michael Smurfit Graduate School of Business was among the founding members of the network, which now counts 31 institutions among its consortia.

“Doing what no other business school dean has done in leading three of the great global business schools, University of Virginia Darden School of Business, University of Chicago Booth School of Business and until 2019 Yale School of Management,” said (opens in a new window)Professor Damien McLoughlin, UCD College of Business, delivering the address the occasion of the conferring.

“Dean Snyder has played no small part in creating the prosperity the world has enjoyed over the past decades and sown the seeds to solve many of the seemingly intractable problems of the world.”

Professor René Stulz from Ohio State University was recognised for his contributions in financial economics. Considered a world leader in the field, he is a leading expert in many areas relating to Corporate Finance, including Corporate Governance, Mergers and Acquisitions, Risk Management and Valuation.

Having published some 150 important articles in finance and economics in the leading journals such as the Journal of Political Economy, the Quarterly Journal of Economics, the Journal of Finance, and the Review of Financial Studies, Mr Stulz is ranked as one of the world’s top economists, not surprising given the more than 100 thousand citations to his research said (opens in a new window)Professor John Cotter during the conferring.

“Professor Stulz is the Everett D. Reese Chair of Banking and Monetary Economics and the Director of the Dice Center for Research in Financial Economics at The Ohio State University. 

“He has spent much of his career there and is almost singe-handedly responsible for its stellar reputation in finance.”

Adding: “He has been recognised for his many achievements with a multitude of honours and awards. To call out a few, René has been appointed as a fellow of the American Finance Association, the European Corporate Governance Institute, and the Financial Management Association. Further, he has been awarded a Marvin Bower Fellowship from the Harvard Business School, a Doctorat Honoris Causa from the University of Neuchâtel, and the Risk Manager of the Year Award of the Global Association of Risk Professionals.”

By: David Kearns, Digital Journalist / Media Officer, UCD University Relations

To contact the UCD News & Content Team, email: newsdesk@ucd.ie