Honorary degree for former Irish President 

Dr Mary McAleese, graduate, former Pro-Vice-Chancellor and Head of the Institute of Professional Legal Studies at Queen’s, received an honorary degree on 8 November from UMass Lowell in Massachusetts, one of the University’s strategic international partners.

During a busy schedule Dr McAleese spoke at St Patrick's Catholic Church in Boston, received a key to the city and met with residents and University staff. And she also caught up with Victoria Denoon, (pictured right) President of the Queen’s University’s New England alumni chapter.

The special event to honour Dr McAleese was presented by UMass Lowell's Centre for Irish Partnerships and the Lowell Irish Cultural Committee. The honorary degree, conferred by UMass Lowell Chancellor, Marty Meehan, recognised Dr McAleese’s role in brokering the peace process in Northern Island, in which she worked on bridging the differences between the communities during her two terms as President.

A number of Queen’s graduates living in the Boston area, including Victoria Denoon who is Senior Assistant to Chancellor Meehan at UMass Lowell, attended the occasion.

Mary McAleese taught criminal law at Trinity College Dublin and worked for Radio Telefis Eireann before moving back to her Alma Mater in the 1990s. The first person born in Northern Ireland to hold the office of President of Ireland, she started working towards a doctoral degree in canon law at the Gregorian University of Rome soon after completing her second term in office. Professor Mary McAleese officially opened the Queen’s Riddel Hall campus in October 2012.

As President, Mrs McAleese welcomed many world figures to her official residence at Áras an Uachtaráin in Phoenix Park, Dublin among them Queen Elizabeth II – the first British monarch to visit Ireland since Independence in 1922 – and US President, Barack Obama.

 

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