Ireland's highest academic honour bestowed as UCD professors admitted to Royal Irish Academy
26 May 2025
RIA President Professor Pat Guiry with Dr Maura Hiney, an Adjunct Professor at the UCD Institute for Discovery, Full Professor Michelle Norris, School of Social Policy, Social Work and Social Justice, and Professor William Mulligan, School of History Credit: John Ohle-J.Bambury Photography
The (opens in a new window)Royal Irish Academy has invited two UCD professors to sign its members' book, Ireland's highest academic honour.
Recognised for their scholarship and exceptional contributions to the humanities and social sciences, the pair were among (opens in a new window)28 new RIA members elected to the 240-year-old institution.
The UCD professors newly elected to the RIA on Friday, 23rd May 2025 were:
- (opens in a new window)Full Professor Michelle Norris, School of Social Policy, Social Work and Social Justice
An expert on housing policy and urban regeneration, Professor Norris’ work on policy responses to housing inequality and spatial concentrations of poverty has had a major impact on housing and urban-studies research. Director of the Geary Institute at University College Dublin, she led over 30 research projects, and co-authored the ‘Housing2030’ report which was adopted as policy by UN Habitat. Currently she leads ‘EqualHouse’, a Horizon Europe-funded project on housing inequality in Europe.
- (opens in a new window)Professor William Mulligan, School of History
A leading scholar of peace and war in late nineteenth- and early twentieth-century international history, Professor Mulligan has written pioneering monographs on the First World War and international relations. He has collaborated widely with historians and political scientists in his field and has held visiting fellowships at the Institute for Advanced Study at Princeton and the Wissenschaftskolleg in Berlin.
Also invited to sign the RAI’s members book was Dr Maura Hiney, an Adjunct Professor at the UCD Institute for Discovery.
A qualified nurse and long-time proponent of research Integrity, she has worked as a researcher and Head of Research Support Services at NUI Galway, and in a number of senior roles in the Health Research Board Ireland.
Welcoming the newest entries for 2025, RIA President (opens in a new window)Professor Pat Guiry each newly admitted member represented the institution’s mission to “foster academic excellence, and to create, curate and share knowledge for the good of society”.
“Your election today embodies this mission, and your insights and achievements will enrich the work of the Academy as we continue to lead trusted and independent dialogue and analysis across the island for the benefit of all.”
27 of the newly elected members pictured with Professor Pat Guiry, Royal Irish Academy President Credit: John Ohle-J.Bambury Photography
Among those admitted this year include Susan McKay, Press Ombudsman, journalist and author; Lucy McDiarmuid, former President of the American Conference for Irish Studies and director of the Yeats Summer School; and Linda Ervine, manager of Turas, the first centre of excellence for Irish language based in an East Belfast loyalist community in Northern Ireland.
The Academy has been honouring Ireland’s leading contributors to the world of learning since its establishment in 1785.
Membership is drawn from the whole island of Ireland, and admittance to the Academy is regarded as among the highest academic distinction. Those elected are entitled to use the designation ‘MRIA’ after their name.
Begun with 88 members; the Academy now has 688, of whom 96 are Honorary Members, almost equally divided between the sciences and the humanities.
Notable current members include Nobel Laureates William C. Campbell, Peter Agre, Paul Nurse; Frances Ruane, economist; Philip Lane, European Central Bank; Fabiola Gianotti, Director General CERN; Brigid Laffan, Irish political scientist; and Geraldine Byrne-Nason, Ambassador of Ireland to the United States of America.
Past Members have included Maria Edgeworth, a pioneer of the modern novel and Nobel laureates: WB Yeats; Ernest Walton, Erwin Schrödinger and Seamus Heaney.
By: David Kearns, Digital Journalist / Media Officer, UCD University Relations
To contact the UCD News & Content Team, email: newsdesk@ucd.ie
