July 2005 NUI Galway History Professor elected by British Academy

Nicholas Canny, Professor of History and Academic Director of the Centre for the Study of Human Settlement and Historical Change at NUI Galway, has been accorded the exceptional accolade of being elected as a Corresponding Fellow of the British Academy at the annual meeting of the Academy on 7 July 2005.

According to the Academy, this is the 'highest honour that the Academy is able to confer in recognition of scholarly distinction'. It is awarded each year to only seven scholars from all subjects in the humanities who may be chosen from any country in the world except the United Kingdom. Professor Canny is only the second living scholar resident in the Republic of Ireland who has been honoured in this way.

In the citation recommending Professor Canny for election, reference was made first to his consistent record of scholarly publications spanning thirty years and including two prize winning books, the most recent Making Ireland British, 1580-1650 (Oxford University Press, 2001); and The Elizabethan Conquest of Ireland, (Harvester Press, 1976); then to his outstanding career as a teacher of History at undergraduate and post-graduate levels; and finally to his leadership role in promoting multi-disciplinary research in the Humanities in Ireland and abroad.

Particular mention was made of his leadership role at NUI Galway that led to the establishment of the Centre for the Study of Human Settlement and Historical Change. This Centre, created by the Higher Education Authority under its Programme for Research in Third Level Institutions has recently completed its first major research programme to the highest international standard. The Centre facilitates multi-disciplinary and co-operative research on topics related to the histories of human migration, settlement and cultural change. The Centre has forged strong collaborative links with other national and international institutions, including Harvard University, Johns Hopkins University, the Institute for Migration and Ethnic Studies Zagreb, Croatia and the Swedish Collegium for Advanced Study in the Social Sciences, Uppsala.

Congratulating Professor Canny on his success, Dr Iognáid Ó Muircheartaigh, President of NUI Galway said: "This is a great honour for an outstanding historian. Through his own research and the leadership he has shown in the Centre for the Study of Human Settlement and Historical Change, Professor Canny has demonstrated the highest standards of scholarship and academic excellence we are so proud to have at NUI Galway."

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