2017 Awardees

London-based human rights lawyer Caoilfhionn Gallagher was made Queen’s Counsel in 2017 in recognition of her exceptional international work, acting for journalists and peaceful protestors who have been arbitrarily detained all over the world.

Dr Des Rice is a veterinarian who specialised in livestock nutrition. After 2 years in veterinary practice in Ireland, he spent 4 years developing a Veterinary Investigation Laboratory in El Salvador. Dr Rice then focused on nutritional-disease research in Belfast for 10 years, obtaining a PhD.

Dr. Garret FitzGerald is the McNeil Professor in Translational Medicine and Therapeutics at the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia, where he chairs the Department of Systems Pharmacology and Translational Therapeutics and directs the Institute for Translational Medicine and Therapeutics.

Previously Director General of Forensic Science Ireland Dr Willis’s career has focused on how science can be used to investigate crime and assist the administration of justice. She was director of the laboratory from 2002 to 2016 and has taken the organisation to the highest international standard.

Eamonn Sinnott is Vice President, Technology and Manufacturing Group at Intel Corporation and the General   Manager of Intel in Ireland. Joining Intel in 1991, he has held a variety of  management positions in Ireland and in the USA prior to his appointment as General Manager of Intel Ireland in 2010.

Emily Logan is the first Chief Commissioner of the Irish Human Rights and Equality Commission, appointed by President Michael D Higgins in 2014. In this role, Emily leads the IHREC in driving Ireland’s human rights agenda to place Ireland on a global stage.

Mary Sutton completed a Bachelor of Social Science degree in University College Dublin in 1974 followed by a Master’s degree in Economics at McMaster University in Canada. For most of her career, she worked in international development, initially as a researcher with the Irish Commission for Justice and Peace in Dublin and then with the Overseas Development Institute in London.

Michael McGlynn is a composer and Artistic Director of the vocal ensemble Anúna which he founded in 1987. Ireland has no indigenous history of choral music, and he created Anúna with the intent of developing a uniquely Irish form of ensemble singing that wove convincing connections between the ancient singing traditions of this country and the literature of his homeland.

Our youngest Alumni Award winner ever, Paul, 23, is a world-class sportsman and the only Irishman to win both World Championship and Olympic medals in the same year. With his brother Gary, he won silver in the Men’s Lightweight Double Sculls at the 2016 Rio Olympics.

Edmond Harty is the CEO and technical director of Dairymaster. Dr Harty has a strong background in engineering and science and is regarded as one of the world’s pioneers in agricultural technology. He has an impressive track record of combining leading research with successful commercialisation of the resulting intellectual property.