Liam Dolan
UNIVERSITY COLLEGE DUBLIN
HONORARY CONFERRING
Tuesday, 6 December 2022 at 2 pm
TEXT OF THE INTRODUCTORY ADDRESS DELIVERED BY PROFESSOR FIONA DOOHAN, UCD School of Biology and Environmental Science on 6 December 2022, on the occasion of the conferring of the Degree of Doctor of Science, honoris causa on LIAM DOLAN.
_____________________________________________________________________
Acting President, Distinguished Guests, Graduates, Colleagues, Ladies and Gentlemen Professor Liam Dolan FRS
Professor Liam Dolan is a leading global expert in plant root biology and plant evolutionary biology.
He is a native of Dublin; he completed a Bachelor of Science in UCD in 1985, graduating with a first class honours degree in Botany. He then completed a Masters in UCD in 1986 and from there he moved to the University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, USA, from where he graduated with a Doctorate in Biology in 1991.
His interest in plant roots biology began with his early career in the University of Pennsylvania USA and the John Innes Centre, UK. In 1996 he was appointed as a Principal Investigator at the John Innes Centre (Norwich, UK), which is a world-renowned Plant and Microbial Research Institute. In 2009, he took up appointment as the Sherardian Professor of Botany in Oxford (UK), and more recently in 2020 he moved as a Group Leader and Deputy Director to the prestigious Gregor Mendel Institute, Vienna (Austria).
His research and teaching activities have greatly improved our understanding of how plants function, and their importance within ecosystems. Throughout his research career, Professor Dolan has used a variety of approaches – genetics, molecular biology, cell biology, palaeontology, geochemistry – to discover mechanisms that control the development of roots, their origin and evolution, and their role in the Carbon Cycle between 400 and 500 millionyearsago. Notablediscoveriesbyhisteamwere(1)theroleofreactiveoxygenspecies in root cell growth; (ii) the discovery of the genetic mechanism that controlled the development of the rooting structures in the first land plants that colonised the Land approximately 500 million years ago, and (iii) the discovery of the structure of the rooting systems of the first tall trees to grow on the planet approximately 320 million years ago.
His research has been recognised by peers through many awards and honours, including his election as a Fellow of the Royal Society (FRS) in the UK and as a member of the European Molecular Biology Organisation (EMBO). He is also a two-time European Research Council Advanced Grant laureate (2010 and 2018).
Exploiting fundamental discoveries, Dolan has also developed technologies with applications in agriculture and medicine. There are two broad areas where the technology is being applied: firstly, his genetic analysis of root development has led to the development of patented technology for plant breeding with the potential to increase fertiliser use efficiency; and secondly, his innovation in haploid genetics has led to the development of technologies that can be applied to a variety of challenges in agriculture and medicine. Professor Dolan is the holder of four patents for plant technologies and is the Founding Director of MoA Technology, a spin-out company that is commercialising the use of haploid genetic technology. He has won more than €50 million research and innovation funding to support his activities, given 100 keynote and invited presentations, and published >150 research articles and reviews papers in leading international journals.
Professor Dolan has led the development of teaching, research and innovation within plant sciences through his aforementioned appointments and activities, but also as the current Deputy Director of the Gregor Mendel Institute, Vienna, Austria, and previously as Head of Department of Plant Sciences, University of Oxford, UK. He has also held visiting and honorary professorship positions at several leading universities, including UCD. Over the last few decades, he has contributed significantly to the development of Irish Plant Science and Biology through his contributions to UCD and the wider Irish scientific community.
Dolan has used skills developed as a scientist and academic for societal good. These activities include those in voluntary organisations and charities. For example, his recent activities include his role as (i) an Advisor to The Crito Project for prisoner education, Norwich, UK, (ii) as the Queen’s Trustee, Royal Botanic Garden Kew, and (iii) as a judge at the BT Young Scientist Exhibition, Ireland (2014-).
One of Professor Dolan’s other great contributions is to the Irish language and the communication of science through Irish. Ta grá mór ag an tOllamh Ó Dubhláin ina theanga dhuchais, an Ghaeilge. He has been teaching Irish to adults in the UK and Ireland since 2002. And he has widely used both the Irish and English languages within written, spoken and visual media to highlight the importance of plant science for global sustainability and food security.
Praehonorabilis Pro Praeses, totaque Universitas,
Praesento vobis hanc meam filium, quam scio tam moribus quam doctrina habilem et idoneam esse quae admittatur, honoris causa, ad Gradum Doctoratus in utroque Jure, tam Civili quam Canonico; idque tibi fide mea testor ac spondeo, totique Academiae.