Governance
The President is responsible for the Academy's general government and regulation. Each year they are elected at a stated meeting on 16th March. The President serves a term of three years.
Professor Michael Peter Kennedy, a world expert in wireless communications, is the 56th President of the Royal Irish Academy
Council
The President and Council are responsible for the Academy's general government and regulation. Each year they are elected at a stated meeting on 16th March. Council formulates policies, decides on strategy and recommends candidates for membership of the Academy.
The membership of Council is drawn from the Sciences and Humanities sections.
The Executive
The day-to-day business of the Academy is supported by the Executive Committee, which is made up of the Academy officers and a staff representative.
The list of current Executive Committee membership is available here.
Officers
The officers of the Academy support the day to day running of the Academy. They give generously of their time to ensure that the Academy runs effectively. Find out more about our officers.
Charter and By-Laws
The Academy is governed by its Charter and By-Laws which can be read here.
Academic Board
The Academic Board oversees the programme and public engagement for the Academy. It coordinates the work of ten multidisciplinary committees and aims to seek common strands for collaboration. The board is made up of the chairs of each of the multidisciplinary committees, officers of the Academy and staff. The Academic Board decides on themes for the public engagement programme and ensures the successful delivery of the programme.
The terms of reference for the Academic board can be found here.
The current membership of the Academic board is available here.
Policy Oversight Group
The Academy’s Policy Oversight Group (POG) is tasked with advising upon the initiation and implementation of all the Academy’s policy activities. It works alongside the Academic Board in identifying strategic issues to be pursued, and monitors the impact of these initiatives. It is also responsible for overseeing a standardised quality assurance process for all the Academy’s policy outputs.
The current membership of the Policy Oversight Group is available here.
The North-South Standing Committee
The North-South Standing Committee is a multi-disciplinary committee of Members that was reconstituted as a Standing Committee of Council in May 2012. Its purpose and aim is to enhance the Academy's overall strategic mission on the island of Ireland by strengthening its presence in Northern Ireland
The current membership of the North-South Standing Committee is available here.
Diversity Committee
The Diversity Committee works towards ensuring greater gender, disciplinary, institutional and overall diversity in all areas of the Academy and its work throughout the island of Ireland. Its work will inform actions that will increase diversity in membership of the Academy, and in Academy committees, working groups and boards.
Being mindful of the Academy’s core values of independence, excellence, scholarship and collaboration, the Committee, in its work, considers a broad range of diversity including (but not limited to) gender, discipline, age, stage of career, institution, geography, ability and ethnicity.
The Diversity Committee reports to Council and to the Executive Committee.
The terms of reference for the Diversity Committee can be found here.
The current membership of the Diversity Committee is available here.