Professor Kathleen James-Chakraborty awarded RIA Gold Medal
Thursday, 14 February, 2019
Posted 15 Februay, 2019
UCD Professor Kathleen James-Chakraborty becomes the first woman to receive the prestigious Royal Irish Academy Gold Medal. The architectural historian, from the UCD School of Art History and Cultural Policy, was awarded the prestigious prize by Minister for Education and Skills Joe McHugh, TD, at a special ceremony at the RIA.
Only two Gold Medals are awarded each year.
At the ceremony, RIA president Professor Peter Kennedy, President of the Royal Irish Academy underlined the importance of recognising world leaders and inspirational figures in their research fields, adding that “[Professor James-Chakraborty] has hugely advanced our understanding of modern architecture through her scholarship, her public engagement, and through her role as prominent public intellectual.”
Paul O’Toole, CEO of the Higher Education Authority added: “We need trailblazers in research to explore, to challenge and to explain – the gold medal winners are experts in doing this.”
Professor James-Chakraborty received her Gold Medal for her work in the humanities, and is the seventh UCD academic to receive the honour since its inception in 2005. Astrophysicist Professor Stephen J. Smartt, of Queen's University Belfast, also received a medal for his contributions to the mathematical sciences.
A professor of Art History at University College Dublin, Professor James-Chakraborty was Mercator Visiting Professor at the Ruth-Universität Bochum in 2005, and in 2015 and 2016 she was the Vincent Scully Visiting Professor of Architectural History at the Yale School of Architecture.
Prior to coming to UCD in 2007, she was a professor in architecture at the University of California, Berkeley.
(opens in a new window)Royal Irish Academy - 13 February 2019