Vol. XXV • Edition 4
SHAG WEEK
October 2016
Our Leading Women
Week 8
A New University President
By Paul Saunders
The University of Limerick (UL) has announced that Professor Desmond Fitzgerald is to become the new president of UL. The announcement was made after a specially convened meeting held by Chancellor of the University, Mr. Justice John Murray, on October 6th in which the recommendation of Prof Fitzgerald to be the next president was accepted. Prof Fitzgerald is the current Vice President of Health Affairs at University College Dublin, and previously held a senior position at the Royal College of
Surgeons in Ireland. Prof Fitzgerald said: “I am delighted… I am honoured to lead UL during the next phase. I look forward to working with colleagues and partners to secure a strong national and international academic profile.” Prof Fitzgerald’s presidency will officially commence on May 1st 2017, when he will succeed Professor Don Barry whose term of office ends in April 2017. Prof Fitzgerald was one of the highest paid academics in the country last year and has accumulated a range of international networks and partnerships, in particular in the US,
Current president Don Barry
China and Malaysia. “I want UL to establish and lead pioneering initiatives that will deliver real impact in a range of important areas that are critical to Ireland’s future and the future of the Mid West”. “The University of Limerick has had remarkable success in its short history, due to its staff, its students and the support it has from the community and the Foundation,” Prof Fitzgerald said. University Chancellor, Mr. Justice John Murray, is pleased with the appointment of Prof Fitzgerald and looks forward to seeing how UL will grow in the future. “I am delighted
to welcome Professor Fitzgerald as the next President of UL. He is a widely-respected scholar and leader in the academic world, with an enviable international research reputation and unrivalled experience gained at strategic levels in a number of highly-ranked universities. I know I speak for the Governing Authority and the broader UL community in stating how much we look forward to working with Professor Fitzgerald to build on UL’s fine foundations as we realise the institution’s vision and objectives for the future,” Justice Murray said. In an email to the students of UL, Prof Fitzgerald highlighted the role that the students of UL have in contributing to the university’s success. “I look forward to working with each of you to secure a strong national and international academic profile”. “I am very conscious that the University has had remarkable success in its short history, due in no small measure to its students and I am honoured to lead UL during the next phase of its evolution… and I look forward to collaborating with present and future students,” he said. Prof Fitzgerald ob-
Prof. Desmond Fitzgerald will become president of UL in May 2017 tained his medical degree from UCD, subsequently training in Cardiology and Clinical Pharmacology at Vanderbilt University in the US. He went on to hold the position of Chief Academic Officer of Ireland East Hospital Group, Vice President of Research at UCD, Director of Research at the Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland and Consultant in Clinical Pharmacology at Beaumont Hospital. Prof Fitzgerald is also the founder of two biomedical companies and is a well-respected clin-
ical academic in translational medicine. He has 450 research publications and on the h-index, which measures an author’s influence and how many times he has been cited by other authors, with a typical professor scoring a value of 3, Prof Fitzgerald holds a value of 57. Professor Fitzgerald said UL has unique strengths - its staff, students, alumni and friends, its powerful local, national and international partnerships, its stunning campus and its excellent reputation.