Edward M. Walsh, is the Founding President of the University of Limerick, one of two new universities established by Ireland in 1989. He headed the institution from its inception as the National Institute for Higher EducationLimerick, in 1970, when he was appointed as Chairman of the Planning Board, and Director, through its transformation to a university in 1989, when he was appointed President, until his retirement in 1998, when he was awarded the title of “Founding President” for life. A native of Cork city, Walsh is a chartered engineer and registered silversmith.
Walsh graduated from UCC, part of the National University of Ireland, with a B.Eng., in 1961. He worked as an engineer with Pye, Cambridge in the UK in 1960. He pursued advanced studies in nuclear and electrical engineering at Iowa State University, gaining a master's in 1963, and his doctorate in 1964. He was an Associate of the US Atomic Energy Commission Laboratory in Ames, Iowa 1963-1965. Walsh was appointed Assistant Professor at Iowa State University at age 24, the youngest in the history of the university, and served from 1964-1965. He was then appointed founding director of the Energy Research Group Programme, chairman of the Engineering Faculty Research committee and associate professor at Virginia Polytechnic and State University, where he served from 1965-1969. He also consulted for US energy companies, including the American Electric Power Company and Furnace Fuels.
NIHE Director and UL President
In 1970 Walsh was appointed by Ireland's Minister for Education as chairman of the planning body for a new kind of educational institution, he selected the new campus site and drove the preparation for, and launch of, the National Institute of Higher Education, Limerick, and its establishment as the University of Limerick in 1989. He is credited with securing funding from the World Bank and the European Investment Bank, and with mounting an international fundraising campaign that secured the support of major philanthropists such as Chuck Feeney and Lewis Glucksman and permitted the University of Limerick to expand significantly at a time when government capital grants were being handed out scarcely. The university introduced to Ireland some academic and administrative systems used in leading US universities, such as continuous assessment, the weighted Grade Point Average and cooperative education. At the outset it introduced Ireland's first degree in European Studies and fostered international placement of students through European Union schemes such as the ERASMUS programme.
Local and national bodies
Walsh has served as founding chairman of several Irish national bodies: the Irish Council for Science Technology and Innovation, the National Technological Park, the National Council for Curriculum and Assessment, and the National Self–Portrait Collection of Ireland. He has served as chairman of the Craggaunowen Project, and of multinational initiatives such as the Japan-Europe Partnership, Irish-American Partnership and the Irish Peace Institute. He has also served as chairperson of the Conference of Heads of Irish Universities, Birr Historic Science Foundation, Shannon Development, and of the advisory board of Barrington's Hospital, and as vice-president of the International Association of University Presidents. He has served on the boards or advisory boards of a range of organisations, including the University of Limerick Foundation, the University of Dublin, Dublin City University's Ryan Academy for Entrepreneurship, the Bons Secours group of hospitals, Science Foundation Ireland, Opera Theatre Company, and the Hunt Museum. He is the principal of Oakhampton Consultants.
New York, USA: Ronald Press, Energy Conversion: electromechanical, direct, nuclear
Articles
He has authored and co-authored a wide range of articles, some well-cited.
Personal life
Walsh is married to Stephanie Walsh, and they have three sons and one daughter. His hobbies include yachting and gardening, and he plays piano, violin and the clarinet.
Memoir
Walsh's memoir, Upstart: friends, foes and founding a university, describes the controversial events associated with the establishment of the Republic of Ireland's first new university. Published by Collins Press in October 2011, it was written in collaboration with journalist Kieran Fagan.
