Professor Sheila Greene

Sheila Greene was born in Leamington Spa, England, to Irish parents, both of whom came from Donegal. Since her father was in the British army she travelled the world, occasionally touching base at ’home’ in Donegal, before returning to Ireland to attend Trinity College Dublin. She graduated with a degree in Psychology and Philosophy in 1969. She then went to the Institute of Psychiatry, London University, and completed training as a clinical psychologist.

Her first job was as Head Psychologist on the Maternal and Infant Health Study attached to the Boston Children’s Hospital and Harvard University. She returned to TCD in 1973 and remained a member of the Department/School of Psychology until her retirement in 2011. She had a central role in establishing and running postgraduate courses in clinical and counselling psychology and supervised 30 doctoral theses.

Professor Greene was elected as Dean of Arts (Humanities) in 1992 and 1995. In 2001 she was asked by the incoming Provost, John Hegarty, to serve as Senior Lecturer (at that time, chief academic officer) and was the first woman to occupy that post.

Professor Greene’s research interests are primarily in developmental psychology and the psychology of women and her work on these and other topics has been published nationally and internationally. In 2005 she was appointed to the new Chair of Childhood Research. She was one of the authors of the Design Brief for the national longitudinal study of children in Ireland, Growing Up in Ireland, and was its Co-Director from 2006-11. She has a strong interest in cross-disciplinary collaboration, expressed in her work as co-founder and teacher in the Centre for Gender and Women’s Studies and as co-founder and later Director of the Children’s Research Centre.

Professor Greene was elected to Fellowship in 1992 and became a Fellow of the Psychological Society of Ireland in the same year. She was a member of the IRCHSS from 2008-12 and in 2012 became a member of the Board of the new Irish Research Council. Since retirement Professor Greene has continued her academic work, mainly writing but also serving on committees for bodies such as NORFACE, Barnardos, the National College of Ireland and the Adoption Authority of Ireland. Her husband, Paul O’Mahony, whom she met when they were both undergraduates, died in November 2015 but she is sustained by the company of her children, grandchildren and good friends.

Professor Greene was elected as the 60th Pro-Chancellor of the University in 2018.