NUI Galway announces Alumni Awards

The annual NUI Galway Alumni Awards will be presented at the University's sixth annual Gala Banquet, which will take place at the Radisson SAS Hotel on Saturday 5th March 2005. The theme of this year's Banquet is the University's mission in international education and the event will focus on NUI Galway's role as an international force for change in improving educational opportunities for students from developing countries.

The centrepiece of the Gala Banquet is the presentation of the Alumni Awards, which celebrate the life-long value of an NUI Galway education and recognise individual excellence and achievements among the more than 50,000 graduates worldwide.

"The awards reflect the outstanding success of our graduates across diverse areas of activity from business and the arts to science, law and medicine", says Dr Iognáid Ó Muircheartaigh, President of NUI Galway. "Our global community of graduates are excellent ambassadors for their Alma Mater and the recipients of the Alumni Awards are a particular inspiration for our current students. The Alumni Awards programme is a wonderful opportunity to recognise the standard of excellence achieved by our graduates worldwide."

Alumni Awards will be presented to the following:

• NUI Galway Award for Law, Public Service and Government:
  Cardinal Wilfrid Napier, South Africa (BA 1964)

• Bank of Ireland Award for Business and Commerce:
  Declan Kelly (BA 1989), President & CEO of Financial Dynamics – USA

• Hewlett-Packard Award for Literature, Communications and the Arts:
  John Coll, (BSc 1979), Sculptor

• Medtronic Vascular Award for Healthcare and Medical Science:
  Prof Orla Conneely, BSc 1977, MSc 1981, PhD 1983. Professor, Molecular and Cellular Biology, Baylor College of Medicine

• Seavite Award for Natural Science:
  Prof Frank Imbusch, BSc 1956, MSc 1958

• Duais Hewlett-Packard don Ghaeilge (Hewlett-Packard Award for Irish):
  Daithí Mac Cárthaigh BA/MA/LLB 1989/1995/1997; called to the Bar in 1998

• TBD Award for Engineering, IT and Mathematics:
  Anne Butler BE 1976, Senior Consultant with TES Consulting Engineers

Tickets for the Gala Banquet on the 5th March cost €150 each or a table of 10 for €1,500. For further information, please telephone 091 495266 or Email: gala@nuigalway.ie

Ends