DCU President-designate
17 December 2009

The Governing Authority of Dublin City University has today appointed Professor Brian MacCraith as its new President, to succeed Professor Ferdinand von Prondzynski whose term of office ends on July 13, 2010. Professor MacCraith, aged 52, is currently Professor of Physics in Dublin City University and Director of the Biomedical Diagnostics Institute (BDI), one of the DCU-led Science Foundation Ireland Centres for Science, Engineering and Technology (CSET).

Professor MacCraith is an internationally renowned Irish academic for his work in sensor research and the creation of university collaborations with major corporations in the development of new technologies.

The Chancellor of Dublin City University, Mr David Byrne, has welcomed the appointment of Professor Brian McCraith as President of the University from mid-July 2010.  “Professor McCraith is a renowned scientist of international standing. He will provide the clear vision and leadership, thus continuing to build the progressive role of DCU in its unique contribution to Irish and international scholarship.”

The outgoing President of DCU, Professor Ferdinand von Prondzynski, indicated his personal delight at the choice of Professor MacCraith, and said that DCU’s record as a leader in teaching, research and innovation would continue and grow under his successor. “I am certain that the whole university community will work enthusiastically under Brian’s leadership to secure DCU’s future success and that of the university sector in this country.”

Professor MacCraith said he was pleased and honoured to take up the position from next July. “I look forward to building on the excellent platform and the leading role for DCU established by my predecessors, Professor Ferdinand von Prondzynski and Dr Danny O’Hare, and to playing a leading role in optimising DCU’s economic and social impact on Ireland’s future through the quality of our graduates, innovative research outputs and strategic initiatives. As a university, our primary challenge is to equip our students with a set of personal and professional skills to enable them to navigate the particular challenges of the coming decades.”

On the current higher education environment, Professor MacCraith said: “These are difficult times for the Irish higher education sector, with shrinking budgets and structural uncertainties, but I am confident that DCU is particularly well positioned to deal with these challenges and to play a major role in Ireland’s smart economy. With the commitment and support of DCU’s excellent staff across all Faculties, I believe that we can develop and implement a vision that builds on DCU’s distinctiveness and makes a significant contribution to Ireland’s economic and social well-being. I also look forward to working closely with colleagues in the other Irish universities and higher education institutions, and with the HEA and the government.”

He added: “However, we need to ensure that the progress achieved by Irish universities, including DCU, in international rankings is maintained, and that this is made possible by a sensible funding environment and by a framework that encourages innovation and initiative.”

Biography

Professor MacCraith was founding Director of the National Centre for Sensor Research (www.ncsr.ie) at Dublin City University (DCU) and held this position from its establishment in October 1999 until becoming Director of the BDI in 2005. The establishment of the NCSR resulted from the successful proposal by DCU for funding under the First Cycle of the Programme for Research in Third Level Institutions (PRTLI). NCSR, which has over 240 researchers working on the fundamental science and applications of chemical sensors and biosensors, is now ranked amongst the top centres in its field globally.

Professor MacCraith completed his PhD in Optical Physics at NUI-Galway in 1982.  He joined the staff of Dublin City University in 1986. Subsequently he developed a strong research record in the field of optical chemical sensors and biosensors, and he has published widely on these topics and has led significant commercialisation initiatives resulting from the research.

In January 2001 Professor MacCraith was awarded the DCU President’s Research Award for significant contributions both to optical sensor research and to the development of the overall scientific research effort of Dublin City University. In August 2001 Professor MacCraith was elected a Fellow of the Institute of Physics. In his 20 years at Dublin City University, Professor MacCraith has also had a strong profile in teaching and learning activities, helping to establish new degree programmes in Physics with French and Physics with German. In addition, he has had a substantial involvement in physics education activities through membership of the Institute of Physics Education Subgroup, the RIA National Commission for the Teaching of Physics and various DCU committees in the area.

In 2003 Professor MacCraith was elected to the Membership of the Royal Irish Academy (RIA) and in 2007 he was appointed a Council Member of the Irish Research Council for Science, Engineering and Technology (IRCSET) by the Minister for Education & Science. He joined the Advisory Science Council of Forfas in 2009.

Professor MacCraith is originally from Dundalk. He is married to Catherine and they have two children, Eoin and Aoife. They live in Portmarnock, Co. Dublin. 

About DCU

DCU has 11,000 students including approximately 7,500 undergraduates, 2,500 taught Masters students and over 750 research students. Programme offerings include 95 undergraduate programmes and 98 postgraduate taught programmes in Business, Humanities and Social Sciences, Engineering and Computing, and Science and Health. A multi-cultural university, over 15 per cent of undergraduate students are from overseas, while 20 per cent are from a non-traditional background (access, disability, mature students).

DCU is also a leading research university with links to highly ranked universities around the world including Arizona State University. The university leads two of Ireland’s Science Foundation Ireland (SFI) Centres for Science Engineering and Technology (CSET): the Biomedical Diagnostics Institute (BDI) and the Centre for Next Generation Localisation (CNGL), while sharing the leadership of another CSET with UCD (CLARITY). In the last round of SFI Strategic Research Cluster (SRC) awards, DCU won three of the seven proposals that were funded, in areas such as Separation Science, Advanced Materials Processing including Plasma, and Cancer Research. The university is based on the Northside of Dublin and has three Linked Colleges, St Patricks Drumcondra, Mater Dei Institute and All Hallows College.

About the Biomedical Diagnostics Institute

The BDI (www.bdi.ie) is a Science Foundation Ireland (SFI) Centre for Science, Engineering and Technology (CSET) that is focused on developing next-generation biomedical diagnostics. Established in October 2005, the BDI is an academic-industry partnership involving 8 industrial and 4 academic partners and is funded for 5 years in the first instance.  The funding awarded to the BDI includes over €6m from industry partners and €19.5m from SFI.