Trinity researchers elected to Royal Irish Academy

Posted on: 28 May 2018

Professors Alan Kramer, Graeme Watson, Pádraig Carmody and Balz Kamber have been elected as new members of the Royal Irish Academy (RIA). The four were among 28 new members elected for their exceptional contribution to the sciences, humanities and social sciences, and to public service.

Professor of European History, Alan Kramer, conducts research on the First World War and the cultural history of violence. He is currently working on an international project on ‘fascist warfare’ and a monograph on the global history of concentration camps. He is a recipient of the internationally prestigious Fraenkel Prize in Contemporary History and a fellow – and research prize-winner — of the Humboldt Foundation.

Professor of Theoretical Chemistry, Graeme Watson, is also a member of CRANN, the Trinity College Dublin-based Institute for Materials Science. He develops and applies computational models to material science problems, including energy generation and storage (such as photovoltaics and fuel cells) and environmental catalysis.

Associate Professor and Head of Geography, Pádraig Carmody, has published extensively on African development and has received, or been the lead on, successful grants from various agencies, such as the MacArthur Foundation. He is former editor-in-chief of Geoforum and received the 2018 Kwadwo Konadu-Agyemang Distinguished Scholar Award in African Geography, Africa Specialty Group, from the Association of American Geographers.

Professor of Geology and Mineralogy, Balz Kamber, has a variety of research interests, which range from reconstruction of the geology of the very early Earth to present day geological processes; from fundamental questions to applied problems of societal relevance; and from the development of new and enhanced analytical methods to modelling.

Professor Peter Kennedy, President of the Royal Irish Academy, said: “We should be proud of these new Members of the Academy for the honour their work brings to this country and the impact of this research on the quality of the higher education provided by our universities.”

The Academy has been honouring Ireland’s leading contributors to the world of learning since its establishment in 1785. There are now 591 members (of whom 87 are Honorary or overseas members), including Nobel laureate, Professor William C Campbell, and Vice-Chancellor of the University of Oxford, Louise Richardson, both of whom formerly studied at Trinity.