February 2004 NUI Galway announces Alumni Awards

The annual NUI Galway Alumni Awards will be presented at the University's annual Gala Banquet, which will take place in the Radisson SAS Hotel, on Saturday, 6 March, 2004. Over 600 alumni, friends and corporate partners of the University will gather to celebrate this hallmark event. Funds raised at the banquet will support NUI Galway's Access and Scholarship Programme in Marine Science – helping students overcome barriers to education.

Launched in 2000 under the aegis of the NUI Galway Alumni Association, these annual awards celebrate the life-long value of an NUI Galway education and recognise individual excellence among the more than 50,000 graduates worldwide. Alumni Officer Betsy Kilkenny said, " The Awards represent the broad scope of disciplines in which our graduates excel, from engineering, business, medicine and the arts, to law, science and the Irish language."

Now in its fourth year, the Alumni Awards Programme has expanded to include two new awards - Duais don Ghaeilge, sponsored by Hewlett-Packard and the Award for Natural Science, sponsored by Seavite Bodycare Ltd. This brings the number of Awards to seven. This year the Award for Engineering, IT and Mathematics is sponsored by TBD Building Contractors.

Alumni Awards will be presented to the following graduates:

TBD Award for Engineering, IT and Mathematics Mr Tom Costello, Managing Director, John Sisk & Son Ltd.

Bank of Ireland Award for Business and Commerce Dr Ronan Lambe, Director ICON Clinical Research This award acknowledges a graduate who has demonstrated excellence and leadership in the world of business and commerce.

Medtronic Award for Health Care and Medical Science Professor Fred Given, National Breast Cancer Research Institute This award acknowledges a graduate who has made an outstanding contribution to the field of health care and medical science.

Hewlett-Packard Award for Literature, Communication and the Arts Mr Michael D Higgins TD, Former Minister for Arts, Culture and the Gaeltacht, Labour Party President. This award acknowledges a graduate who has made an outstanding contribution in the area of Literature, Communications and the Arts.

NUI Galway Award for Law, Public Service and Government Dr Eamonn Hall, Chief Legal Counsel, Eircom plc

Duais Hewlett-Packard don Ghaeilge Pádraig Feirtéar, Principal, Mheánscoil na mBráithre, Dingle, Co. Kerry Tugann an duais seo admháil ar chéimí a chuir le luach na Gaeilge mar acmhainn nádúrtha, forbartha agus eacnamaíochta.

Seavite Award for Natural Science Professor Emer Colleran, Professor Microbiology, Director Environmental Change Institute, NUI Galway. This award acknowledges a graduate who has made an outstanding contribution in the field of Natural Science - a science, such as biology, chemistry, or physics that deals with the objects, phenomena, or laws of nature and the physical world.

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