And the new Don is.............

ninty9er

UNIVERSITY OF LIMERICK ANNOUNCES NEW PRESIDENT

The Chancellor of the University of Limerick (UL) and Chairman of its Governing Authority, Mr Sean Donlon, is pleased to announce the appointment of Professor Don Barry as the next President of UL.

Announcing the appointment, Mr Donlon said, "The Governing Authority of the University of Limerick unanimously adopted the recommendation of the Presidential Selection Board and we are delighted to have appointed a person with the eminent reputation of Professor Don Barry as a scholar, a senior university executive and an academic leader. I am sure that, during Professor Barry's presidency, UL will further develop as a pioneering and progressive force in Irish education for the betterment of society".

The process of finding a new President involved a national and international search as well as the normal media advertising. Uniquely, it also involved the short-listed candidates meeting representative groups of the campus community, including academics, administrators and students.

A native of Mallow, Co Cork, Professor Don Barry attended the Patrician Academy there and was awarded a BSc (Mathematical Science) and MSc (Mathematics & Statistics) from University College, Cork. He subsequently received a PhD in Statistics in Yale University. He was appointed Assistant and Associate Professor in Yale Statistics Department before taking up faculty positions in the Statistics Department of UCC, including the Head of Department role. He has extensive teaching and research experience at third level, teaching students in areas such as Informatics & Electronics, Science, Business, Engineering, Arts and Medicine, as well as being Director of the Statistical Consulting unit since 2000. Professor Barry was appointed Vice President Academic & Registrar at UL in 2004 with responsibility for academic developments across the University. In that capacity he has chaired Academic Council and Deans' Council and is a member of the Governing Body. His research in the field of Statistics has involved extensive publications in international journals and a range of externally-funded research projects, with a focus on Bayesian statistics, epidemiology, semiparametric estimation, growth curves and applied statistics in Medicine. Professor Barry has been an external examiner for doctoral research at UCC, UCD and Yale University and has been Associate Editor of the journal Biometrics since 1998.

President-designate Barry will take up his duties on 1 May, 2007 and succeeds Mr John O'Connor who has been acting as President since the resignation of Professor Roger Downer. The appointment is for a 10-year term in accordance with the Universities' Act 1997 and the role of chief officer involves managing and directing the University in its academic, administrative, financial, personnel and other activities.

Speaking after the announcement Professor Barry said " I am genuinely honoured to have been appointed to the Presidency of the University of Limerick, especially at this exciting stage in the development of Third Level Education in Ireland. It is heartening to see the unique contribution of universities to the economic, social and cultural development of our country given due recognition and, increasingly, the resources required to fulfil their missions. I would also like to join in the tributes paid to my predecessor, John O'Connor, who has made an outstanding contribution to UL and to the advancement of higher education in Ireland. I am fortunate to lead an institution that has such a fine reputation and I will dedicate the next ten years of my career to further advancing the University of Limerick with the support of all the governors, faculty, staff, students and external friends of UL. There are significant opportunities for UL to progress with the support of Government initiatives such as the National Development Plan, the PRTLI and Science Foundation Ireland and UL looks forward to playing its part in the next phase of Ireland's development".

The University of Limerick is an independent, internationally-focussed university with over 11,500 students and 1,200 staff. It is widely recognised as an enterprising university with a record of innovation in education and excellence in research and scholarship across a broad spectrum of teaching, learning, research and service to the community. UL's mission is conditioned by the criteria of relevance to the needs of Ireland's economic, social and cultural development.

UL has a 6-year Strategic Plan aimed at expanding and deepening its programmes in a range of areas, including new academic disciplines such as Medicine, Architecture, Music & Dance, Health Sciences, Arts and the Built Environment. The University's development plans, supported by a capital investment plan of some €250 million, also include significant expansion of its research endeavours in accordance with the Government's policy for Fourth Level as well as further enhancement of its world-class sporting infrastructure.

The international search and selection process was guided by the specialist executive recruitment firm of Heidrick & Struggles and the 36-member Governing Authority met in special session this afternoon to finalise the appointment.

Don't know much about the man, but if he was head of development in A&R it's probably good news

Peteee

Bah, he dosen't even have a degree *from* UL. Fraud tbh!

UCC and, ahem, Yale. Damn Yale-ies.

Good luck to him anyways, whatever it is that the president does, I really don't know

kaimera

Peteee wrote:

Bah, he dosen't even have a degree *from* UL. Fraud tbh!

UCC and, ahem, Yale. Damn Yale-ies.

Good luck to him anyways, whatever it is that the president does, I really don't know

Presides, obviously.

rmacm

He looks like a good candidate for the job. Hope he keeps up the success of his predecessors.

Cheers
Rory

kaimera

rmacm wrote:

He looks like a good candidate for the job.

I doubt they'd get someone considered not to be a good candidate.

dK1NG

they must do something - how else could they justify their application for a massive pay increase....

the average wage of the presidents of the various universities is €186k - in December they sought an increase of €135k on top of this, which, if granted, will bring them past the €300k mark:eek:

Delphi91

Peteee wrote:

Bah, he dosen't even have a degree *from* UL. Fraud tbh!

UCC and, ahem, Yale. Damn Yale-ies.

Neither did Ed Walsh or Roger Downer! Ed is a UCC graduate (like Don Barry) and Roger Downer is a Queens graduate.

Mike

justfortherecor

John Heneghan for Prez!