Press release
Minister Mitchell O’Connor congratulates the Royal Irish Academy Gold Medal Award recipients Professor John Walsh and Professor Malcolm MacLachlan
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Published on
Last updated on
The Minister of State for Higher Education, Mary Mitchell O’Connor TD, congratulated Professor John Walsh and Professor Malcolm MacLachlan on the award of the 2017 Royal Irish Academy Gold Medals. The 2017 Academy Gold Medals acknowledge exemplary work in the Social Sciences and Environmental Sciences and Geosciences. The medals were presented at a ceremony in Academy House.
Minister Mitchell O’Connor applauded the medallists on their many achievements, saying:
“We can take pride in the achievements of the recipients of the Gold Medal awards and in the research and work that they represent. The recipients are leaders, not only in their respective fields, but as academics, teachers, and mentors in higher education. Both Professor Walsh and Professor MacLachlan are role models to their students and colleagues. May they inspire their students to strive for excellence, creativity, and innovation.”
She also paid tribute to the Royal Irish Academy and the Gold Medal Awards, stating:
“The awards are a recognition of research excellence by peers, who are themselves recognised for their achievements through membership of the Royal Irish Academy. The Awards are made on the basis of the recipients’ lifetime of commitment to the highest standards of scholarship in their discipline. They are a well-deserved acknowledgement of academic excellence and outstanding contribution to the fields of Social Sciences and Environmental and Geosciences, both nationally and internationally.”
The Royal Irish Academy Gold Medals are awarded to two outstanding academics each year and are recognised as a truly national expression of celebration for scholarly achievement. Each medal is testament to the highest standards in scholarship and they are a well-deserved recognition of scientific excellence. The RIA Gold Medals are sponsored by the Higher Education Authority.
ENDS
The Royal Irish Academy Gold Medal awards were launched by the President of Ireland Mary McAleese in 2005. The awards were initiated by the Academy in association with the Higher Education Authority (HEA) and The Irish Independent. The award of the six high profile Academy Gold Medals acclaim Ireland’s foremost thinkers in the humanities, social sciences, physical and mathematical sciences, life sciences, engineering sciences and the environment and geosciences.
The medals, which are currently sponsored by the Higher Education Authority, aim to identify and recognise inspirational figures – the stars of the knowledge economy – in order to celebrate the achievements of higher education in Ireland and to inspire future generations. In doing so, the Gold Medals have become recognised as a truly national expression of celebration for scholarly achievement in Ireland.
They are awarded to two outstanding academics each year. The medals identify and recognise inspirational figures in order to celebrate the achievements of higher education in Ireland and to inspire future generations.
The recipient receives a Gold Medal inscribed with the bust of Earl of Charlemont, 1st President of RIA, and on the reverse is the Salmon of Knowledge with the inscription “Geallaimid Ár Ndícheall” (RIA motto – We will Endeavour). There is no monetary prize for the recipient.
The 2017 recipients are: Professor Malcolm MacLachlan and Professor John Walsh.
Professor MacLachlan has recently taken up the position of Professor of Psychology and Social Inclusion at Maynooth University; having previously held a Personal Chair in Global Health at Trinity College Dublin, where he was Director and co-founder of the Centre for Global Health. His research has contributed to the development of a stronger psychosocial perspective on social inclusion, particularly the determinants and responses to disability and use of assistive technology, the process of effectiveness of international aid, and the inclusion in the process and content of policy development and implementation. His focus has been on vulnerable and marginalised groups particularly in low-and middle-income contexts. He was appointed as Research and Innovation Lead for the World Health Organisation’s Global Cooperation on Assistive Technology (GATE) programme and he is the Knowledge Management Lead for the United Nations Partnership for the Rights of People with Disability (UNPRPD) Programme.
John Walsh is the Professor of Structural Geology in the School of Earth Sciences at University College Dublin, the Director of iCRAG, the Irish Centre for Research in Applied Geosciences, and Co-Director of the Fault Analysis Group in the School of Geological Sciences. He is one of the leading international experts on geological faults and their impact on fluid flow. His work has transformed the way geologists view the subsurface structure of fault systems. Professor Walsh is one of the world’s most highly cited structural geologists and had very substantial impact within industry as well as at the leading edge of academic endeavour. His research achievements have been recognised by a number of leading international awards and honours including Honorary Fellowship of the Geological Society of London and the 2017 recipient of the William Smith Medal awarded by that Society.