A LIMERICK educational institution announced the appointment of its new president this week, a Limerick native who is set to take up the college’s highest office from this November.
Mary Immaculate College (MIC) this Tuesday (August 20) announced that Professor Dermot Nestor will come into office as the college’s new president in November, taking over from Professor Eugene Wall who is set to retire.
Professor Wall has officially held the MIC presidential role since 2018, however he took over as acting president from Professor Michael Hayes in early 2017.
Incoming President Prof Nestor, a native of Caherdavin, is currently based in Sydney, where he is a sitting Professor of Hebrew Bible at the Australian Catholic University (ACU).
He joined ACU in 2011 from the School of Religions and Theology at Trinity College Dublin (TCD) where he completed his BA and his PhD on the topic of ancient Israelite identity.
Ahead of his upcoming appointment, President Designate Prof Nestor said it is “a genuine honour” to be appointed to the highest office at MIC.
“It is a genuine honour to be appointed the 11th President of Mary Immaculate College. It is a role I accept with deep humility and extended gratitude,” he said.
“First of all, I thank the trustees, and particularly Bishop Brendan (Leahy) for the faith they have placed in me. Secondly, I acknowledge and acclaim the significant and substantial efforts of former presidents, particularly Professors Eugene Wall and Michael Hayes.”
Welcoming the news of Prof Nestor’s appointment, Bishop Brendan Leahy, chair of the MIC Trustees and Governing Authority, said that he is “delighted to announce the appointment of Professor Dermot Nestor as the next President of MIC”.
“With over 20 years’ experience as an academic, researcher, and leader, Dermot’s appointment comes at a particularly exciting juncture in the college’s history.”
Since its foundation 125 years ago, MIC has had just 10 past presidents.
MIC’s first president was Sr Paul Quinlan, of the Sisters of Mercy, who was first appointed in 1898. She was followed by Sr Veronica Cullinan (1923), Sr Celsus Barry (1945), Sr Rosalie Loughnane (1952), Sr Loretto Ní Chonchúir (1959), Sr Cabrini Moloney (1979), and Sr Angela Butler (1988).
In 1999, Prof Peadar Cremin was appointed as the first MIC President who wasn’t a nun in the Mercy Sisters.
Mr Cremin was president of MIC until 2011, when he was succeeded by Prof Michael Hayes.
Prof Hayes stayed in the role officially until 2018, when outgoing president Prof Eugene Wall was appointed to the role.
