Honorary Fellows of WIT

Beatrice Barry-Murphy It is a purpose of a higher education institution and it is an imperative to recognise contributions and accomplishments of distinctive excellence by way of institutional award, honoris causa. In that respect the Institute participates in a practice and a custom, a ritual and a celebration characteristic of educational foundations since medieval times. Read full citation

Ken Bond Ken Bond is Ireland’s leading authority on Lepidoptera (butterflies and moths), having spent almost 40 years surveying and recording moths and butterflies for all counties in Ireland. During this time he has amassed a database of 50,000 records on butterflies and moths, making a huge contribution to our understanding of Irish Lepidoptera. At the European level he is recognised as a leading regional authority on moths. Read full citation

Sahar Hashemi In 1995, Sahar Hashemi left aside the security of an established career in the legal profession and, in collaboration with her brother Bobby, an investment banker, she proceeded to establish Coffee Republic. She has had an entrepreneurial career of exceptional success. Read full citation

Alan G. Hassenfeld When Alan G. Hassenfeld, the 55-year-old Chairman of Hasbro Inc., took the helm at one of the world's leading toy companies in 1989, he was faced with managing and growing a company with annual net revenues of more than $1.3 billion. Today, Hasbro is a worldwide leader in children’s and family leisure time entertainment with over $3 billion in revenues and an impressive blue-chip portfolio of familiar and popular brand names under one roof. Read full citation

Frank O'Conor It is an established purpose of the academy and it is set down by tradition that tribute will be paid and award will be conferred on those whose accomplishments are distinctive and unique. The Waterford Institute of Technology joins in that custom and practice as it confers this afternoon the honorary award of Fellowship on Frank O’Conor. Read full citation

Redmond O'Donoghue Redmond O'Donoghue is one of Ireland’s leading and most respected business men. He has contributed significantly to the development of the South East region, and to Ireland as a whole, through his innovative leadership at Waterford Crystal and his substantial involvement with the wider business community. Read full citation

Mícheál Ó Muircheartaigh This is a cherished acclaim. It is not lightly granted. Its worth and integrity are judiciously guarded. Distinctive and unique are the specified criteria set down. Extending on that tradition, the Waterford Institute of Technology convenes in formal ceremony, to pay tribute to Micheál Uasal Ó Muircheartaigh for his contribution, distinctive and unique, to our country, to our sporting lineage and to the life and times of our people. Read full citation

Louise Richardson Dr. Louise Richardson is the worthiest of recipients. Her nomination and selection by the Governing Authority and the Academic Council were enthusiastically unanimous. Read full citation

Michael Ryan It is said that the finest steel is forged at the hottest furnace and it is perhaps to those novitiate years in the newsroom at the Irish Independent that Michael learned best his trade by hand. These were lessons that would endure to prosper subsequently, linking different traditions of journalism and media. In the retrospective, it is now clear that he had a particular talent as a features man, although he filled a diversity of roles across a broad spectrum of activity. Read full citation

John Treacy John Treacy needs little introduction to local or national audiences; his silver-medal winning performance in the marathon at the Los Angeles Olympics in 1984 is unforgettable for those lucky enough to have seen it, not least because there were some who believed that John’s career in top level athletics at that time was at an end. Read full citation

The Honourable Danny Williams The Honourable Danny Williams, Premier of Newfoundland and Labrador, has served as the Member for Humber West since August 2001 and as Progressive Conservative Party Leader since 2001. Read full citation

Richard M. Daley Waterford Institute of Technology has conferred an honorary fellowship on Richard M. Daley, the Mayor of Chicago who traces his family history back to Co Waterford. The conferring took place in Chicago as part of a Waterford trade mission to the United States led by Cllr. Mary Roche, Mayor of Waterford. Read full citation