{"id":1253,"date":"2019-09-18T17:23:08","date_gmt":"2019-09-18T16:23:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/alumni.ucd.ie\/magazine\/?p=1253"},"modified":"2020-09-04T11:33:23","modified_gmt":"2020-09-04T10:33:23","slug":"ucd-alumni-awards","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/alumni.ucd.ie\/magazine\/2019\/ucd-alumni-awards\/","title":{"rendered":"UCD Alumni Awards"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>TO HONOUR OUTSTANDING ACHIEVEMENT AND CELEBRATE SUCCESS<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>From Sport to Science, Business to Arts and Humanities, Law to Engineering and Architecture, we honour nine alumni in 2019 whose remarkable accomplishments are worthy of recognition<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>THE UCD ALUMNI AWARDS were created to honour outstanding achievement in a variety of fields. This year\u2019s nine recipients will be celebrated at a special black-tie ceremony at UCD\u2019s O\u2019Reilly Hall on Friday, November 22. Each has excelled in her or his respective area of expertise and their remarkable accomplishments deserve wide recognition. Now in its sixth year, the Alumni Awards are voted on by UCD\u2019s vast body of alumni, numbering over 279,000, living in 169 countries around the world, as well as students and staff. The success of the Alumni Awards shows that the UCD network is thriving, influential and truly international \u2013 and it\u2019s a reminder to the University\u2019s current student population that the benefits of studying at UCD can last a lifetime. We caught up with the nine awardees to ask them for their UCD memories, the high points of their career to date and what advice they have for future graduates. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-gallery aligncenter columns-3 is-cropped wp-block-gallery-1 is-layout-flex wp-block-gallery-is-layout-flex\"><ul class=\"blocks-gallery-grid\"><li class=\"blocks-gallery-item\"><figure><a href=\"https:\/\/alumni.ucd.ie\/magazine\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/09\/ambassador_dr_sinead_walsh_europe_day_speech-1.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"382\" height=\"447\" src=\"https:\/\/alumni.ucd.ie\/magazine\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/09\/ambassador_dr_sinead_walsh_europe_day_speech-1.jpg\" alt=\"\" data-id=\"1306\" data-link=\"https:\/\/alumni.ucd.ie\/magazine\/2019\/09\/ucd-alumni-awards\/ambassador_dr_sinead_walsh_europe_day_speech-2\/\" class=\"wp-image-1306\" srcset=\"https:\/\/alumni.ucd.ie\/magazine\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/09\/ambassador_dr_sinead_walsh_europe_day_speech-1.jpg 382w, https:\/\/alumni.ucd.ie\/magazine\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/09\/ambassador_dr_sinead_walsh_europe_day_speech-1-256x300.jpg 256w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 382px) 100vw, 382px\" \/><\/a><figcaption class=\"blocks-gallery-item__caption\">Dr Sin\u00e9ad Walsh<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/li><li class=\"blocks-gallery-item\"><figure><a href=\"https:\/\/alumni.ucd.ie\/magazine\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/09\/Katie-Mullan.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"245\" height=\"315\" src=\"https:\/\/alumni.ucd.ie\/magazine\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/09\/Katie-Mullan.jpg\" alt=\"\" data-id=\"1237\" data-link=\"https:\/\/alumni.ucd.ie\/magazine\/?attachment_id=1237\" class=\"wp-image-1237\" srcset=\"https:\/\/alumni.ucd.ie\/magazine\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/09\/Katie-Mullan.jpg 245w, https:\/\/alumni.ucd.ie\/magazine\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/09\/Katie-Mullan-233x300.jpg 233w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 245px) 100vw, 245px\" \/><\/a><figcaption class=\"blocks-gallery-item__caption\">Katie Mullan<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/li><li class=\"blocks-gallery-item\"><figure><a href=\"https:\/\/alumni.ucd.ie\/magazine\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/09\/Caroline-Keeling-Preferred.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"300\" height=\"450\" src=\"https:\/\/alumni.ucd.ie\/magazine\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/09\/Caroline-Keeling-Preferred.jpg\" alt=\"\" data-id=\"1303\" data-link=\"https:\/\/alumni.ucd.ie\/magazine\/2019\/09\/ucd-alumni-awards\/caroline-keeling-preferred\/\" class=\"wp-image-1303\" srcset=\"https:\/\/alumni.ucd.ie\/magazine\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/09\/Caroline-Keeling-Preferred.jpg 300w, https:\/\/alumni.ucd.ie\/magazine\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/09\/Caroline-Keeling-Preferred-200x300.jpg 200w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" \/><\/a><figcaption class=\"blocks-gallery-item__caption\">Caroline Keeling<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/li><\/ul><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"color-blue wp-block-heading\">International Diplomacy &#8211; Dr Sin\u00e9ad Walsh<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<h4 class=\"wp-block-heading\">MSc 2005<\/h4>\n\n\n\n<p>Dubliner Dr Sin\u00e9ad Walsh is the EU Ambassador to South Sudan. Before that, she was Irish Ambassador to Sierra Leone and Liberia. She has worked extensively for the Department of Foreign Affairs and in the charity sector. She is co-author of the book, <em>Getting to Zero<\/em>, which detailed her experience of the Ebola crisis. <strong>Have you fond memories of UCD? <\/strong>\u201cI had been working for Concern on the Pakistan\/Afghanistan border before doing my masters at UCD and I remember how wonderful it was to study there and the great professors who helped expand my mind.\u201d <strong>What life skills did you pick up at UCD? <\/strong>\u201cMeeting people. You can never underestimate how good it is to get to know as many people as possible and I met so many international students there. Today, I\u2019m meeting with the governor of the Central Bank here in South Sudan and he\u2019s someone I first met in UCD in 2003.\u201d <strong>Career highlights? <\/strong>\u201cWorking on the Ebola crisis. I think I did some good work, but I also made mistakes. And it was tough to write about it [in her book, <em>Getting to Zero<\/em>] especially when I had to acknowledge those mistakes.\u201d <strong>Where do you see yourself in five years? <\/strong>\u201cRight now, I\u2019m asking questions like \u2018How can I have an impact on alleviating poverty?\u2019 and \u2018What about issues like climate change?\u2019\u201d <strong>What advice do you have for graduates? <\/strong>\u201cIt might not be fashionable to say this, but \u2018work hard\u2019.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"color-blue wp-block-heading\">Inspirational Hockey Star &#8211; Katie Mullan<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<h4 class=\"wp-block-heading\">BSc 2017, ME 2018<\/h4>\n\n\n\n<p>Katie Mullan, former Ad Astra Sports Scholar and captain of the Irish hockey team, led her country to sporting triumph last year, a silver medal in the World Cup. It was an achievement that led to increased governmental funding. Katie, who is from Derry, and helped UCD win several trophies, aims to get Ireland to next year\u2019s Olympic Games in Tokyo. <strong>What did you enjoy most about your time at UCD? <\/strong>\u201cI enjoyed making many new friendships during my time in UCD, starting with those I made through living on campus with other Ad Astra athletes, to the girls playing UCD hockey and of course the engineers \u2013 all lifelong friendships that are invaluable to me.\u201d <strong>How important was UCD in developing your sporting talent? \u201c<\/strong>UCD was incredibly important. I progressed most as a player and person during my time at UCD.\u201d <strong>Did you learn any \u2018life lessons\u2019 at UCD that have stood to you since leaving? \u201c<\/strong>Probably the biggest life lesson was that all the sacrifices made are worthwhile. As an elite athlete my university experience differed a lot from the typical student. After six years of managing my studies with the demands of international hockey we won a World Cup silver medal. I wouldn\u2019t change anything about my journey.\u201d <strong>How do you manage to combine top-level sport with your more \u2018regular\u2019 career? \u201c<\/strong>Time management. UCD helped me with that. I was constantly managing my hockey career with my undergraduate or postgraduate studies.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"color-blue wp-block-heading\">Agri-Food Entrepreneur &#8211; Caroline Keeling<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<h4 class=\"wp-block-heading\">BSc 1990, MSc (Agr) 1992<\/h4>\n\n\n\n<p>As CEO of the Irish-owned Keelings, Caroline Keeling is steeped in the food business. Keelings employs over 2,000 people and supplies a large list of customers with fresh fruit and vegetable products. Caroline is on the board of several organisations, including Bord Bia and the Export Trade Council. <strong>What are your primary memories of UCD? \u201c<\/strong>Two words: fun and friends. It was a great time \u2013 you meet so many new people from all walks of life, including boys, which was new for someone coming from a convent school!\u201d <strong>Is there a key \u2018take-away\u2019 from your time there? <\/strong>\u201cMuch of the learning, particularly science, was presented as, \u2018This is the current theory \u2013 we don\u2019t know everything.\u2019 That was really revelatory for me and it set me up for lifelong learning. There\u2019s always more to learn.\u201d <strong>What are you most proud of career-wise? <\/strong>\u201cIt gives me such pleasure to see people come in here to work and how they evolve over, say ten years. It\u2019s so heartening to see people go above and beyond expectations.\u201d <strong>Would you do anything differently? <\/strong>\u201cThere are things that I wish I tackled earlier, even something like really understanding yourself \u2013 what your make-up is, what your drive is, how you interact with people.\u201d <strong>Do you have advice for new graduates? <\/strong>\u201cWhatever career you choose, look for people to help you. You\u2019d be amazed that 80 to 90 per cent of the people you ask really will.\u201d  <\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-gallery aligncenter columns-3 is-cropped wp-block-gallery-2 is-layout-flex wp-block-gallery-is-layout-flex\"><ul class=\"blocks-gallery-grid\"><li class=\"blocks-gallery-item\"><figure><a href=\"https:\/\/alumni.ucd.ie\/magazine\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/09\/Barbara-Dawson.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"245\" height=\"315\" src=\"https:\/\/alumni.ucd.ie\/magazine\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/09\/Barbara-Dawson.jpg\" alt=\"\" data-id=\"1232\" data-link=\"https:\/\/alumni.ucd.ie\/magazine\/?attachment_id=1232\" class=\"wp-image-1232\" srcset=\"https:\/\/alumni.ucd.ie\/magazine\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/09\/Barbara-Dawson.jpg 245w, https:\/\/alumni.ucd.ie\/magazine\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/09\/Barbara-Dawson-233x300.jpg 233w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 245px) 100vw, 245px\" \/><\/a><figcaption class=\"blocks-gallery-item__caption\">Dr Barbara Dawson<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/li><li class=\"blocks-gallery-item\"><figure><a href=\"https:\/\/alumni.ucd.ie\/magazine\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/09\/Colin-Ryan.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"245\" height=\"315\" src=\"https:\/\/alumni.ucd.ie\/magazine\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/09\/Colin-Ryan.jpg\" alt=\"\" data-id=\"1229\" data-link=\"https:\/\/alumni.ucd.ie\/magazine\/?attachment_id=1229\" class=\"wp-image-1229\" srcset=\"https:\/\/alumni.ucd.ie\/magazine\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/09\/Colin-Ryan.jpg 245w, https:\/\/alumni.ucd.ie\/magazine\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/09\/Colin-Ryan-233x300.jpg 233w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 245px) 100vw, 245px\" \/><\/a><figcaption class=\"blocks-gallery-item__caption\">Colin Ryan<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/li><li class=\"blocks-gallery-item\"><figure><a href=\"https:\/\/alumni.ucd.ie\/magazine\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/09\/Noelle-Walsh.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"245\" height=\"315\" src=\"https:\/\/alumni.ucd.ie\/magazine\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/09\/Noelle-Walsh.jpg\" alt=\"\" data-id=\"1230\" data-link=\"https:\/\/alumni.ucd.ie\/magazine\/?attachment_id=1230\" class=\"wp-image-1230\" srcset=\"https:\/\/alumni.ucd.ie\/magazine\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/09\/Noelle-Walsh.jpg 245w, https:\/\/alumni.ucd.ie\/magazine\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/09\/Noelle-Walsh-233x300.jpg 233w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 245px) 100vw, 245px\" \/><\/a><figcaption class=\"blocks-gallery-item__caption\">Noelle Walsh<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/li><\/ul><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"color-blue wp-block-heading\">Cultural Strategist &#8211; Dr Barbara Dawson<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<h4 class=\"wp-block-heading\">BA 1979<\/h4>\n\n\n\n<p>The first female director of Dublin\u2019s Hugh Lane Gallery, Dr Barbara Dawson has been one of the most significant figures in the Irish art world in recent decades. She oversaw an expansion to the Gallery and helped to develop the world-renowned Francis Bacon studio there. She is Adjunct Professor at UCD\u2019s School of Art History. <strong>What do you remember most about your time at UCD? <\/strong>\u201cThe great friends I made at UCD I\u2019ve kept to this day. The camaraderie was wonderful. I have great recollections of the History of Art Department \u2013 it was so small and intimate. It was a privilege to be taught by these great scholars.\u201d<strong>How has your time at UCD served your career and life? <\/strong>\u201cObviously, there was the academic work, but it was learning from your setbacks \u2013 and it\u2019s terribly important to do that learning then. Looking back, I see UCD as a big learning ground \u2013 not just for art, but for life.\u201d <strong>What career achievements make you proud? <\/strong>\u201cI was very proud of Francis Bacon\u2019s studio and for building a new wing at the Hugh Lane which really allows it to take its place as a leading institution in the visual arts in Ireland. I\u2019m proud of the fact that I was the first female director of the Gallery. The challenge was to come and do something that wasn\u2019t so familiar and that could be nerve-wracking at times.\u201d <strong>Do you have advice for today\u2019s graduates? <\/strong>\u201cIt\u2019s very valuable to travel and to allow time to do that because once you get seriously into your career that opportunity may be curtailed. Be open and receptive and if you are, you have an advantage over others. Engage with the creative industries, the plays, the operas, the arts \u2013 they are different tools with which to navigate the world.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"color-blue wp-block-heading\">Global Business Influence &#8211; Colin Ryan<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<h4 class=\"wp-block-heading\">BCL 1997, DBS 1998<\/h4>\n\n\n\n<p>Colin Ryan joined investment bank giant Goldman Sachs after leaving UCD. He is based in the San Francisco Bay Area and is Co-Head of Mergers and Acquisitions: Americas. He was a recipient of the Ireland Funds Distinguished Leadership Award for 2019 in recognition of his philanthropy and remarkable business achievements. <strong>Your strongest memories of UCD? <\/strong>\u201cThe camaraderie among my BCL class. I made great friends while obtaining a world-class education which provided the foundation for my professional life. I was also fortunate to have the opportunity to participate in the BCL International exchange programme at De Paul Law School in Chicago which gave me my first taste of life in America and a better understanding of the opportunities available outside of a traditional legal career.\u201d <strong>What \u2018life lessons\u2019 served you well as a result of attending UCD? <\/strong>\u201cThe emphasis placed on independent research as part of the BCL programme fostered a greater appetite to be a self-starter, a skill which enabled me to build teams, develop client relationships and grow businesses over the course of my career.\u201d <strong>What advice have you for new UCD graduates? <\/strong>\u201cBe expansive and ambitious \u2013 you have earned the right to compete on the global stage.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"color-blue wp-block-heading\">Transformational Innovator &#8211; Noelle Walsh<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<h4 class=\"wp-block-heading\">BE 1985<\/h4>\n\n\n\n<p>Noelle&nbsp;Walsh leads the Cloud Operations and Innovations operation at Microsoft, a role that includes supply planning and strategic acquisition as well as global construction and data centre operations. Previously, she spent 25 years with the Dow Chemical Company, where she worked across multiple businesses. <strong>Memories of UCD? <\/strong>\u201cI have many fond memories \u2013 the camaraderie, positive environment set by the administration, even the hard work we all were required to put in. The many lifelong, enduring friendships are what I treasure most.\u201d <strong>Is there a characteristic you attribute to UCD? <\/strong>\u201cUCD requires students to work very hard, individually and in teams. I think demanding that level of effort creates a sense of determination and I credit that determination for getting me where I am today, to keep pushing forward each time I am faced with a new opportunity.\u201d <strong>Where do you see yourself in five years\u2019 time? <\/strong>\u201cIt\u2019s a very exciting time to be at Microsoft, as the company transforms to a mainly cloud-driven business. I also look forward to giving back more meaningfully, to causes that are important to me. I\u2019m a big champion of diversity and inclusivity and giving back to the communities in which we live and work. That might mean joining a public board.\u201d <strong>What advice do you have for today\u2019s graduates? <\/strong>\u201cTake the leap. Think big. Stand up for what you believe in.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-gallery aligncenter columns-3 is-cropped obj-pos-20 wp-block-gallery-3 is-layout-flex wp-block-gallery-is-layout-flex\"><ul class=\"blocks-gallery-grid\"><li class=\"blocks-gallery-item\"><figure><a href=\"https:\/\/alumni.ucd.ie\/magazine\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/09\/Shaun-Kelly.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"245\" height=\"315\" src=\"https:\/\/alumni.ucd.ie\/magazine\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/09\/Shaun-Kelly.jpg\" alt=\"\" data-id=\"1231\" data-link=\"https:\/\/alumni.ucd.ie\/magazine\/?attachment_id=1231\" class=\"wp-image-1231\" srcset=\"https:\/\/alumni.ucd.ie\/magazine\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/09\/Shaun-Kelly.jpg 245w, https:\/\/alumni.ucd.ie\/magazine\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/09\/Shaun-Kelly-233x300.jpg 233w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 245px) 100vw, 245px\" \/><\/a><figcaption class=\"blocks-gallery-item__caption\">Shaun T Kelly<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/li><li class=\"blocks-gallery-item\"><figure><a href=\"https:\/\/alumni.ucd.ie\/magazine\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/09\/John-Bell.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"245\" height=\"315\" src=\"https:\/\/alumni.ucd.ie\/magazine\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/09\/John-Bell.jpg\" alt=\"\" data-id=\"1233\" data-link=\"https:\/\/alumni.ucd.ie\/magazine\/?attachment_id=1233\" class=\"wp-image-1233\" srcset=\"https:\/\/alumni.ucd.ie\/magazine\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/09\/John-Bell.jpg 245w, https:\/\/alumni.ucd.ie\/magazine\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/09\/John-Bell-233x300.jpg 233w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 245px) 100vw, 245px\" \/><\/a><figcaption class=\"blocks-gallery-item__caption\">Dr John Bell <\/figcaption><\/figure><\/li><li class=\"blocks-gallery-item\"><figure><a href=\"https:\/\/alumni.ucd.ie\/magazine\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/09\/Mary-Horgan.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"245\" height=\"315\" src=\"https:\/\/alumni.ucd.ie\/magazine\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/09\/Mary-Horgan.jpg\" alt=\"\" data-id=\"1234\" data-link=\"https:\/\/alumni.ucd.ie\/magazine\/?attachment_id=1234\" class=\"wp-image-1234\" srcset=\"https:\/\/alumni.ucd.ie\/magazine\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/09\/Mary-Horgan.jpg 245w, https:\/\/alumni.ucd.ie\/magazine\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/09\/Mary-Horgan-233x300.jpg 233w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 245px) 100vw, 245px\" \/><\/a><figcaption class=\"blocks-gallery-item__caption\">Prof Mary Horgan<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/li><\/ul><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"color-blue wp-block-heading\">Global Leadership &#8211; Shaun T Kelly<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<h4 class=\"wp-block-heading\">BComm 1980, DipPrAcc 1981<\/h4>\n\n\n\n<p>Belfast native Shaun T Kelly was the global COO of KPMG International. He ran the US tax practice and through his leadership, KPMG served a long list of blue chip American corporations. He is on the board of the Ireland Funds of America and the Irish Arts Centre in New York and he is the chair of the Northern Ireland US Advisory Council for the East Coast. <strong>What are your abiding memories of UCD? <\/strong>\u201cComing from Belfast to Dublin felt like a huge change. It was liberating. I\u2019d played minor football for Antrim so I played a bit at UCD but wasn\u2019t good enough to get on the team for the Sigerson Cup. I remember as a freshman being marked by [former Dublin player and manager] Pat O\u2019Neill.\u201d <strong>Did you pick up any life lessons<\/strong> <strong>at UCD? <\/strong>\u201cIt was a great confidence builder and it taught me that meeting people from different backgrounds could be invaluable. Moving to Dublin opened my eyes to travel and that eventually brought me to the US.\u201d <strong>What are you most proud of in your corporate career? <\/strong>\u201cRunning the US tax practice for KPMG was great, but so too was coming back to Belfast in the 1990s and effectively running a start-up business there. It was an exciting time for the city.\u201d <strong>What would you say to future graduates? <\/strong>\u201cDon\u2019t be afraid to take opportunities as they come up. Take a chance, take risks, be versatile. There\u2019s a lot of disruption in many industries now so, to paraphrase Darwin, it\u2019s not so much the survival of the fittest but the survival of the most adaptable.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"color-blue wp-block-heading\">Sustainability Strategist &#8211; Dr John Bell<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<h4 class=\"wp-block-heading\">BA 1986, MA 1988<\/h4>\n\n\n\n<p>Dubliner Dr John Bell is the \u2018Healthy Planet\u2019 director at DG Research and Innovation at the European Commission in Brussels. He has held a variety of top roles at the Commission for the past 26 years and was Chef de Cabinet for former Commissioners, M\u00e1ire Geoghegan Quinn and Maglena Kuneva. <strong>What are your memories of UCD? <\/strong>\u201cIt really was a catalyst for opening up so many opportunitiesin my life. UCD was responsible for my academic career and was where I met my wife. As students, we had access to the top people in their fields, like Gus Martin and Terry Dolan. They weren\u2019t just scholars, but very innovative people too.\u201d <strong>What<\/strong> <strong>life lessons did UCD help with? <\/strong>\u201cIt gave me great confidence to be the best I could be. There was such openness there. People would tell me that I could do whatever I wanted in life if I really applied myself and that message stayed with me.\u201d <strong>Of what aspects of your career are you most proud? <\/strong>\u201cThe grounding I got at UCD really helped me be a policy strategist because language is so important. Most strategic thinkers in the Commission come from the humanities. They\u2019re used to paying attention to language. They\u2019re more open and confident in their outlook.\u201d <strong>What do you say to new graduates? <\/strong>\u201cI believe if you work and network and do your best, no matter what your corner is, that you can take it forward. No matter whether you\u2019re in the arts or the sciences or any other discipline, if you apply yourself you prepare yourself for whatever direction you take in life.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"color-blue wp-block-heading\">Medical Education Leadership &#8211; Prof Mary Horgan <\/h3>\n\n\n\n<h4 class=\"wp-block-heading\">MB BCh BAO 1986, MD 1995<\/h4>\n\n\n\n<p>A world-renowned expert in infectious diseases, Professor Mary Horgan is the President of the Royal College of Physicians of Ireland (RCPI) \u2013 the first female in this role since its establishment in 1654. She is a consultant in infectious diseases at Cork University Hospital and was Dean of the University College Cork School of Medicine. <strong>What are your abiding memories of UCD? <\/strong>\u201cSo many! I remember Newman House having a great disco scene in the 1980s during term time and then becoming a daunting exam hall in May\/June. I remember being in Earlsfort Terrace and Professor Coakley being a fantastic anatomy teacher.\u201d <strong>What life skills<\/strong> <strong>did you pick up at UCD? <\/strong>\u201cAs a country girl from Kerry, I learned to fend for myself, but in a wider context, UCD taught me the importance of networking and communicating with people. At this stage of my career, it\u2019s remarkable the number of UCD alumni that I meet.\u201d <strong>Of what career achievement are you most proud?<\/strong> \u201cIt was a huge privilege to be elected president of the RCPI. I think it was a reflection of their trust for me to take on the role and to make changes. I like to remind people that I am a UCD alumna and if I can achieve this without any major connections, there\u2019s no reason why you can\u2019t push boundaries also.\u201d  <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>TO HONOUR OUTSTANDING ACHIEVEMENT AND CELEBRATE SUCCESS From Sport to Science, Business to Arts and Humanities, Law to Engineering and Architecture, we honour nine alumni in 2019 whose remarkable accomplishments are worthy of recognition THE UCD ALUMNI AWARDS were created to honour outstanding achievement in a variety of fields. This year\u2019s nine recipients will be&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":1267,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[68],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1253","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-68"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v23.3 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>UCD Alumni Awards - UCD Connections<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/alumni.ucd.ie\/magazine\/2019\/ucd-alumni-awards\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_GB\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"UCD Alumni Awards - UCD Connections\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"TO HONOUR OUTSTANDING ACHIEVEMENT AND CELEBRATE SUCCESS From Sport to Science, Business to Arts and Humanities, Law to Engineering and Architecture, we honour nine alumni in 2019 whose remarkable accomplishments are worthy of recognition THE UCD ALUMNI AWARDS were created to honour outstanding achievement in a variety of fields. 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