Professor Emerita Dervilla Donnelly: 1930 - 2024
Posted 15 November, 2024
The university community is deeply saddened by the loss of one of its most remarkable, respected and influential alumni, UCD Professor Emerita of Phytochemistry Dervilla Donnelly MRIA, who served as the first woman President of the Royal Dublin Society (1989-1992).
A true friend, mentor and role model to so many, Professor Donnelly had an extraordinary career combining significant contributions in teaching and research, with exceptional leadership in science policy and a range of public service contributions at a national level.
Born in Dublin in 1930, Dervilla attended the Sacred Heart School in Lower Leeson Street before studying Chemistry at University College Dublin, where she is remembered as having been an outstanding student.
She achieved a First Class Honours degree in Chemistry, before starting her PhD in flavonoid chemistry under the supervision of Professor Tom Wheeler at the Department of Chemistry at University College Dublin, then based in Merrion Street.
Following her PhD, Dervilla left Ireland for the US where she pursued her postdoctoral studies with Professor Ted Geissman at the University of California at Los Angeles.
Returning to Ireland, Dervilla joined her alma mater as a lecturer in Chemistry in 1956 and quickly gained international renown in her specialist field of phytochemistry; the study of chemicals with biological activity derived from plants.
For Dervilla, wood chemistry was a particular interest, and she applied her research to a variety of problems encountered within the Irish forestry industry.
Her research employed a combination of organic synthesis, structural studies, mycology and ecology and it provided an excellent training for students interested in pursuing careers in the pharmaceutical industry, biotechnology, or academia.
Elected a Member of the Royal Irish Academy in 1968, Dervilla contributed extensively to the work of the Academy, serving on Council (for over 20 years) and in office (Vice-President for 11 years and Senior Vice-President for 3 years) and has also served on a range of Academy committees.
In 1979, she was recognised for her scientific and teaching achievements and was appointed Professor of Phytochemistry at University College Dublin.
A leader in promoting the benefits of collaborating across disciplines and countries, Dervilla served as a visiting scientist in Stockholm and Gif-sur-Yvette in France on many occasions. Her main collaborators in Gif-sur-Yvette were Professor Sir Derek Barton, Nobel Laureate in Chemistry (1969), and Professor Judith Polonsky.
She developed and managed one of the first academic research networks in Europe in the late 1970s and then extended her impressive collaborative network to include the USA, South Africa and South America.
Her group research, which included many international collaborations, led to over 150 research publications and insightful review articles, and the graduation of 85 PhD students.
Dervilla’s skills and commitment to European research were recognised by her election as Chairperson of the European Science Research Councils in 1985, Vice-President and Member of the Executive Council of the European Science Foundation 1990-1997 and Vice-President and Member of the European Science and Technology Assembly in 1994.
In 2000, she was appointed to the Austrian Council for Science and Technology, a position she held for 10 years.
Her leadership experience and ability to chair boards and committees, work well with people, to clearly identify both the problem and the solution, were also recognised by the Irish Government and a range of public and private bodies in Ireland.
Dervilla had a long and fruitful association with the Royal Dublin Society and became its first woman President serving from 1989-1992.
During this time, many important decisions were taken at the Royal Dublin Society (RDS) which ensured the organisation flourished.
At the RDS, she was also a member of the committee, an Honorary member of its Council and Chairperson of the RDS-Irish Times Boyle Medal National Committee, a medal she helped to revive.
In a seamless transition from chemistry and science policy, Dervilla was appointed by the then Taoiseach as Chairperson of the Custom House Docks Development Authority from 1991 to 1997. Her time there proved highly successful, returning over €400 million per annum to the exchequer.
She was appointed by the Minister for Education to chair the National Education Convention in 1994, and the Forum on Early Childhood Education in 1998.
In 1995, the President of Ireland, on the nomination of the Taoiseach, appointed her as Chair of the Dublin Institute for Advanced Studies and she played a key role in revitalising and regenerating this important body over a five-year period.
She was a Member of the Science and Technology Innovation Council (2001) and Vice-Chair of the Board of Governors and Guardians of the National Gallery of Ireland (2001-2002). She was the Chairperson and Director of the Commission on Assisted Human Reproduction between 2000-2005 at the request of the Minister for Health.
Dervilla received numerous awards and honours in recognition of her outstanding work and contributions. These include the Boyle-Higgins Medal of the Institute of Chemistry of Ireland in 1999, the UCD Charter Day Medal in 2000, for her many contributions to the country and to UCD. She was also honoured by a Fellowship of the Hibernian Academy in 1994.
In 2010, she was awarded the Austrian Cross of Honour for Science and Art, First Class for ‘superior creative and commendable services in the areas of the sciences or the arts’. In 2011 she was the recipient of the Inaugural Life Achievement Award of Women in Technology and Science.
In 2017, Professor Dervilla Donnelly was the first woman to receive the Royal Irish Academy’s highest honour, The Cunningham Medal. The award recognises “outstanding contributions to scholarship and the objectives of the Academy” and it is the Academy’s premier award dating back to 1796.
A former President of the Institute of Chemistry of Ireland, she was made an Honorary Fellow in 2021. She was also awarded honorary doctorates from the University of Nottingham, The Queen’s University Belfast, Trinity College Dublin, University College Dublin and the National University of Ireland.
In 2023, a portrait of Professor Donnelly was commissioned by UCD Professor Joe Carthy, the then principal of the UCD College of Science, in collaboration with UCD Professor Pat Guiry, a former PhD student of Dervilla, and now President of the Royal Irish Academy and Full Professor of Synthetic Organic Chemistry at UCD.
The portrait is on permanent display at the entrance of the Science Centre South on the Belfield campus.
Professor Donnelly will be deeply missed by all her fellow scientists, colleagues and friends at University College Dublin and the other universities and organisations where she contributed so much.
She was always happy to chat with students and faculty, paying particular attention to giving advice to newly appointed staff. She had a great sense of humour and had an innate ability to connect to students across many generations.
Outside of chemistry, she had a passion for horses and horse racing and frequently attended races at Leopardstown and at the Punchestown Festival.
She will be remembered as a remarkable scientist, researcher and person who instilled an extremely high standard of scientific rigour and integrity in all those she encountered over the course of her career, that will remain with them throughout their scientific endeavours.
May she rest in peace.
Ar dheis Dé go raibh a hanam dilís.
PG, DM
