Teresa Brannick Medal commemorates late research lecturer’s long-standing commitment to equality & social justice
A new prize in tribute to late academic Dr Teresa Brannick-McIlduff has been awarded for the first time by University College Dublin.
PhD candidate and law lecturer Anna-Louise Hinds is the first recipient of the Teresa Brannick Medal, which honours the extraordinary contributions of a research lecturer with a strong commitment to equality and social justice.
Dr Brannick-McIlduff was mourned by Irish and immigrant communities alike upon her death on 12 December 2012 at the age of just 62.
In a statement, UCD said the medal “commemorates the distinguished career and contribution” of an academic who “taught research methods to generations of commerce and social science students.
“Her gifts of intellectual versatility and gentle counsel enriched the learning and the lives of all with whom she worked.”
The Teresa Brannick Medal will be awarded annually to a PhD student in the areas of business studies, law and human sciences with the highest grade in research methods modules taken for credit.
Hinds, the medal’s first recipient, is a part-time PhD student at UCD and a member of faculty at NUI Galway, where she lectures in European Union Law, Comparative Competition Law and International Trade Law.
“It is an honour to be the recipient of the inaugural Teresa Brannick Medal,” she said at the presentation at the Michael Smurfit Graduate Business School. “It is a testament to Teresa and her legacy that so many of her friends, family, colleagues and students are here today.
“I hope that I can continue to do justice to her legacy in my future academic endeavours.”
Speaking at the event, Bill Roche, Professor of Industrial Relations and Human Resources, highlighted the enormous contributions of the late versatile lecturer, who “had an extraordinary ability to put herself into the mind of the person seeking her advice and to help them formulate their research problem and method in clear terms – not least when they had little or no clarity having first come to seek her advice.”
Dr Brannick-McIlduff’s widower Eddie McIlduff also spoke on the day, describing his late wife as “brilliant, wonderful and gentle”.
Following her death, Metro Éireann’s own tribute to Dr Brannick-McIlduff highlighted “the work she carried out towards the recognition of equality and social justice’s field of study in the university in collaboration with her long-time friend Prof Kathleen Lynch.”
“To her,” we added, “everything scholarly, joyous and life affirming was important.”
