Brian MacCraith

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Brian MacCraith
MRIA HonFInstP
Born1957
Dundalk, Ireland
NationalityIrish
Alma mater NUI Galway
Known forPresidency of DCU, chairing of Ireland's COVID-19 vaccine taskforce
SpouseCatherine MacCraith
Children2
Scientific career
Fields Physics
Sensors
Institutions Dundalk Institute of Technology
Dublin City University (DCU)

Brian Dominic MacCraith MRIA HonFInstP (born Dundalk, 1957), is an Irish physicist who was the third president of Dublin City University (DCU) in Ireland. He joined DCU in 1986 and became president in July 2010, for a term of 10 years. After his term in office, he took up voluntary roles, including the chairs of Ireland's High-Level Task Force on COVID-19 Vaccination and Future of Media Commission.

Contents

Early life and education

MacCraith was born in Dundalk, County Louth, Ireland, the son of two teachers, Brian and Caitlin MacCraith. He attended Ballinaclosha Primary School in County Armagh, Scoil Eoin Baiste in Dundalk, and later CBS Dundalk (now Coláiste Rís), from where he took his Leaving Certificate. His mother taught him for three years, and his father for one. [1]

He graduated with an honours BSc in Physics from NUI Galway, where he also completed a M.Sc. and a Ph.D in Optical Spectroscopy of Laser Materials.

Career

MacCraith worked for a time at Dundalk Institute of Technology, then in 1986 he joined the staff of DCU, teaching in the physics area, and establishing the university's Optical Sensors Laboratory. [2] He pursued research in the areas of optical chemical sensors and biosensors, biomedical diagnostics, and nanobiophotonics, and he has published and developed intellectual property in his research areas. [3]

MacCraith was, in 1999, the founding Director of the National Centre for Sensor Research (NCSR) at DCU, helping to secure funding of almost 10 million in matching grants from Atlantic Philanthropies and the Irish government's PRTLI programme. [4] He later proposed the Biomedical Diagnostics Institute (BDI), and in 2005, this was launched as a Science Foundation Ireland (SFI) Research Centre, with the largest quantum of funding for a research project in the history of the Irish state, [2] and with MacCraith as its first director. He proposed the Nano-bio-analytical Research Facility (NRF) established at DCU in 2010. [3] [5]

MacCraith has also been a visiting scientist at the Naval Research Laboratory, Washington, D.C. [2]

DCU presidency

MacCraith was selected in the search process after Ferdinand von Prondzynski's 10-year term as DCU's second president ended, and inaugurated 13 July 2010. In his inauguration speech he commented on the fact that he and DCU's founding president, Danny O'Hare both came from Dundalk, had in fact attended the same school, and that O'Hare had been an inspiration for him. [6] He also emphasised the importance of Ireland's east-coast population corridor, and expressed hopes of building links between DCU and Dundalk IT, and County Louth in general, and in 2012, the two institutions concluded a cooperation agreement. [7]

Starting with his inauguration address, [8] MacCraith has spoken publicly about the needs of industry and business from the university sector and the funding needs of third level. [9] He has also spoken on the question of STEM participation by female students. [10]

National roles

MacCraith chaired the Strategic Review of Medical Training and Career Structures, which led to the "MacCraith Report" (June 2014), and later the Review of STEM Education in the Irish School System (reported November 2016). [3]

He is or has been a member of the board of Social Entrepreneurs Ireland (SEI), Ibec (formerly the Irish Business and Employers’ Confederation), Chamber Choir Ireland, SciFest, the last of which he has chaired. [3] He is also Chairperson of the three-member Board of Trustees of the Genio Trust, overseeing disbursal of funds for work in certain areas of social innovation, including dementia and home care. [11] [3]

Future of Media Commission

MacCraith was appointed by the Irish government to chair a commission to study and make recommendations on the future of the media in Ireland. Under his Twitter handle he received the resignation of one member of the commission, Alan Rusbridger, after a controversy.

COVID-19

In November 2020, MacCraith was appointed by the Irish Government to chair its High-Level Task Force on COVID-19 Vaccination , which is to provide advice to the HSE and the Department of Health on the programme to carry out mass vaccination. [12]

Publications

MacCraith has published over 150 papers, and examples of peer-reviewed work include:

Awards and recognition

MacCraith is a Fellow of the Institute of Physics and of SPIE, the international scientific organisation for optics and photonics. [3] He is also one of the limited numbers of Fellows of the Irish Academy of Engineering, the body set up by the Institution of Engineers of Ireland. He has also won the Mallin Invent Award for innovation. [2]

MacCraith was elected to membership of the Royal Irish Academy, often considered the highest academic honour in Ireland, in 2007, in the Science division. [14]

In 2014, MacCraith was awarded an honorary doctorate by the University of Massachusetts, Lowell. [3] [15]

Personal life

MacCraith is married to Catherine MacCraith, and they have a daughter, Aoife, and a son, Eoin. [1] Eoin is the director of the critically acclaimed Portmarnock Football Adventure series on YouTube. The fourth instalment of the series, simply titled 'IV', has been stuck in development hell for 17 years.

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References

  1. 1 2 Roddy, Margaret (21 July 2010). "Second Dundalk man as DCU President". The Argus. Independent News and Media. Retrieved 16 November 2018.
  2. 1 2 3 4 "Profile – Prof. Brian MacCraith (DCU)". Irish Universities Association. Retrieved 22 November 2018.
  3. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 "DCU President's Office – President (profile)". Dublin City University. Archived from the original on 10 August 2018. Retrieved 21 November 2018.
  4. ↑ "Grants – National Centre for Sensor Research (DCU Educational Trust)". The Atlantic Philanthropies. Retrieved 22 November 2018.
  5. ↑ Holden, Louise (1 February 2011). "Optics expert with a clear vision for DCU" . Retrieved 21 November 2018.
  6. ↑ Roddy, Margaret (21 July 2010). "Second Dundalk man as DCU President". The Argus. Independent News and Media. Retrieved 16 November 2018. ...said that having grown up in Dundalk and attended the same school, he was aware of academic achievements of DCU's first President, Danny O'Hare from a very early age. 'For me, Danny was a pioneer, an ever-present symbol of commitment to higher education and the transformation of its landscape.'
  7. ↑ Keogh, Elaine (23 July 2012). "Alliance between DCU and Dundalk Institute". Irish Software Innovation Network (quoting the Irish Times). Retrieved 16 November 2018. ...in the coming days DkIT and DCU will sign a memorandum setting out areas of co-operation, including academic programme development, research, enterprise support and sharing of services...
  8. ↑ Roddy, Margaret (21 July 2010). "Second Dundalk man as DCU President". The Argus. Independent News and Media. Retrieved 16 November 2018.
  9. ↑ O'Brien, Carl (28 March 2017). "What are the must-have skills for today's graduates?". Irish Times Trust. Retrieved 20 November 2018. Employers tell us they want graduates who can solve problems, lead teams, innovate, build relationships and strengthen their organisations". ... Emotional intelligence is coming up more and more, he says. Digital literacy is also high on the agenda. ... if there is one attribute that looks set to grow in importance over the coming years, it boils down to this: adaptability.
  10. ↑ Gorey, Colm (24 November 2016). "Prof Brian MacCraith: Gender imbalance in STEM is unacceptable". Silicon Republic. Retrieved 20 November 2018.
  11. ↑ "Genio – The Genio Trust – Board of Trustees". Genio. Retrieved 22 November 2018.
  12. ↑ Department of the Taoiseach (24 November 2020). "First Meeting of the High-Level taskforce on COVID-19 vaccination". Government of Ireland. Dublin, Ireland. Retrieved 18 March 2021. The agreed terms of reference are as follows – 1. To support the Department of Health and Health Service Executive to deliver a COVID-19 immunisation programme, that meets best practice and provides good governance, as a critical public health intervention in the prevention and control of COVID-19... 2. ..., etc.
  13. ↑ McDonagh, Colette; Burke, Conor S.; MacCraith, Brian D. (February 2008). "Optical Chemical Sensors". Chemical Reviews. 108 (2): 400–422. doi:10.1021/cr068102g. PMID   18229950.
  14. ↑ "Membership Directory – Brian Dominic Mac Craith". The Royal Irish Academy. 19 October 2015. Retrieved 18 November 2018.
  15. ↑ "A challenge to 'change the world'". The Lowell Sun. 18 May 2014. Retrieved 20 November 2018.


Academic offices
Preceded by
Ferdinand von Prondzynski July 2000 – July 2010
 President of Dublin City University
July 2010 – July 2020		Succeeded by


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