The Academy Gold Medals 2010

Academy Gold Medals were presented to historian Professor Cormac Ó Gráda and mathematician Professor Samson Shatashvili.

 

Media Release - 24 November

 

ACADEMY GOLD MEDALS PRESENTED BY PRESIDENT OF IRELAND

 

President Mary McAleese, today presented to the Royal Irish Academy Gold Medals to economic historian Professor Cormac Ó Gráda and mathematician Professor Samson Shatashvili in recognition of their outstanding contributions to the humanities and the physical & mathematical sciences.

Professor Cormac Ó Gráda (UCD) is widely regarded as one of Ireland’s most distinguished intellectuals and is the recipient of the Academy Gold Medal in the Humanities. Professor Ó Gráda is internationally accepted as the premier economic historian in his field. His published works, (including his seminal book, Ireland A New Economic History) have fundamentally changed the way in which we view such major topics as the Irish Famine; Irish economic history and the history of Ireland’s Jewish community.

Professor Samson Shatashvili (TCD) is a fellow of Trinity College, where he holds the Chair of Natural Philosophy and is the director of the Hamilton Mathematics Institute. He is the recipient of the Academy Gold Medal in the Physical and Mathematical Sciences. In 1990, at the age of 30, he was awarded a D.Sc. degree (higher doctorate of science), which is traditionally only awarded in recognition of substantial and sustained contribution to scientific knowledge. Professor Shatashvili has made several groundbreaking discoveries in the fields of theoretical and particle physics.

President McAleese said ‘This year’s Gold Medals go to exemplary individuals from the Humanities and Physical and Mathematical sciences, one a leading economic historian and the other a ground-breaking theoretical physicist. They are the kind of people who remind us at this torrid economic juncture, with its heartbreaking litany of bad news, that away from the depressing headlines we have exceptional people whose work is putting Ireland on the international map for all the right reasons. Their cutting-edge, truly exciting research is part of the massive reservoir of talent which we have in our universities and institutes of technology. Let that be a source of hope and reassurance as we start the climb up the ladder to prosperity after such a rapid slide down the snake of recession’.

The Royal Irish Academy Gold Medals acclaim Ireland’s foremost contributors to the world of learning and science. The Gold Medals are awarded to two outstanding academics each year and are recognised as a truly national expression of celebration for scholarly achievement. The medals are sponsored by The Higher Education Authority and The Irish Independent.