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WELCOME TRINITY TODAY 2019 Photo: Naoise Culhane EDITORS Nicole Matthews Rachel Farrell Sarah Ling (Project Manager) EDITORIAL BOARD Kate Bond Tom Molloy Jennifer Taaffe Beibhinn Coman Eileen Punch Róisín Cody THANK YOU Katie Byrne Caoimhe Ní Lochlainn Aoife King Seána Skeffington COVER IMAGE Paul Burke Contact Trinity Development & Alumni East Chapel Trinity College Dublin Dublin 2 Ireland t. +353 (0)1 896 2088 e. alumni@tcd.ie w. tcd.ie/alumni Publisher Ashville Media Group ashville.com All information contained in this magazine is for informational purposes only and is to the best of our knowledge correct at the time of printing. The opinions expressed in these pages are not necessarily shared by the Trinity Development & Alumni office or Trinity College Dublin. Provost’s Welcome This edition of Trinity Today celebrates the public launch of Inspiring Generations , the first comprehensive philanthropic campaign in Trinity’s history. It’s an important step for Trinity’s future and I want to thank all those of you who joined us at the Dublin and international launch events and are supporting the Campaign and spreading the word. Philanthropy was part of the Trinity story from its very foundation in 1592: the University was founded on lands granted by Dublin Corporation. All major growth in the intervening centuries has had the support of alumni and friends. Now, with Inspiring Generations , we are rallying support for two ambitious goals: a 400m in donations and 150,000 volunteer hours. Philanthropy is more important for Trinity today than ever before. With Inspiring Generations we will leverage additional state funding and loans, and we will venture into new cutting-edge research and innovative ways of working. This is why Trinity has been able to keep pace with change over recent decades, maintaining our position as Ireland’s leading university in a hyper-competitive global environment in education and research. For instance, in May we celebrated the opening of the magnificent new Trinity Business School (TBS), funded by philanthropy and a loan from the European Investment Bank. Just this month, work began on the first capital project of Trinity’s landmark E3 Institute: the E3 Learning Foundry, a state-of-the-art 6,000 m 2 facility that will transform how we educate students of Engineering, Computer Science and Natural Sciences by bringing them together to work on team projects, motivated by the E3 philosophy: “Balanced Solutions for a Better World”. Both TBS and E3 have been made possible by generous philanthropy and by the dedication of the whole Trinity community that includes volunteers and friends of Trinity. With the help of alumni and friends around the world, Inspiring Generations will benefit many more flagship initiatives across Trinity, from funding access programmes and scholarships to cancer research and a critical plan to safeguard the future of the Old Library and its magnificent collections. You can read about them within the magazine and about the many different ways that you can support the Campaign for Trinity. I hope you will also enjoy the interviews with our renowned alumni, writer Sebastian Barry and Ireland’s former Central Bank Governor, Philip Lane, as well as our Professor of Systematic Botany, John Parnell, who explains last year’s loss of the storied Oregon Maples in Library Square and the challenges of encouraging biodiversity within the College campus. Trinity has over 140,000 alumni in 150 countries. That is some network. I have enjoyed meeting many of our alumni and friends around the world over the last year, at the Inspiring Generations launches and many other events in Australia, Japan, Malaysia, Singapore, the US, Morocco, Kenya, Tanzania, South Africa and across Europe. The commitment and enthusiasm I encounter from our worldwide community of supporters will, I am sure, make Inspiring Generations a resounding success in enabling Trinity to inspire many generations to come. Dr Patrick Prendergast B.A.I, Ph.D., Sc.D (1987) Provost & President Trinity Today is available online at tcd.ie/alumni 1
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Contents Regulars CAMPUS NEWS A selection of news items from this year in Trinity TRAILBLAZERS Eight Trinity alumni blazing a trail in their respective elds BOOK SHELF Some of the books published by Trinity academics FOR THE LOVE OF THE GAME Trinity’s sports clubs enjoy sweet success HONORARY DEGREES Nine honorary degrees have been awarded to outstanding individuals INTERNATIONAL EVENTS Alumni events and the international launches of Inspiring Generations BRANCH CONTACTS Find your local Trinity alumni branch NUACHT Nuacht ó Oi g na Gaeilge ALUMNI WEEKEND 2018 Photos from the annual Alumni Weekend CLASS NOTES News from graduates around the world PROFESSIONAL NETWORKING AND MENTORING EVENTS 2018 19 Photos from our mentoring events ALUMNI CHRISTMAS EVENTS 2018 Photos from our annual Christmas events Inspiring Generations Learn about the Campaign for Trinity College Dublin Safeguarding the Old Library Conservation and digitisation of the Old Library Epigenetics on the Mind Dr Kevin Mitchell on the battle of nature versus nurture Trinity Business School The new Trinity Business School is open 23 Trinity Business School Farewell to Trinity’s Iconic Oregon Maple Trees Professor John Parnell tells us what happened to our Oregon Maples Trinity Access – Transforming Education Celebrating 25 years of Trinity Access and leading the change in the Irish education system 12 Inspiring Generations
