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Retirement of Professor Eugene Kennedy, Vice President for Research
23 September 2010
The School of Physical Sciences organised a symposium on the 17th September to mark the recent retirement of Prof Eugene Kennedy. Three internationally distinguished research colleagues gave presentations which recalled both their professional and personal experiences of collaborating with Eugene throughout his research career.
Prof Gerry O’Sullivan from UCD opened the proceedings with a talk which focussed on the early years of Eugene’s career in the physics department in UCD under the supervision of Prof Kevin Carroll. Prof Thomas Morgan from Wesleyan University in Connecticut spoke about the work he had carried out with Eugene in the USA and entertained the audience with musical interludes. Prof Bernd Sonntag, formerly from Hamburg University, concluded the talks with a presentation on the work his group carried out with the DCU plasma research group both at European facilities and in the USA. There were also a number of brief reminiscences from Eugene and DCU colleagues and presentations to Eugene and his wife Carmel from the School of Physical Sciences.
The symposium was attended by research colleagues from France, Germany and closer to home by colleagues from TCD, UCD, NUIM, UCC and QUB. Also in attendance were former Presidents of DCU, Dr Danny O’Hare and Professor Ferdinand von Prondzynski, current President Prof Brian McCraith and Deputy President Prof Anne Scott. The occasion was a lively and enjoyable one and a fitting tribute to the immeasurable contributions Eugene has made to both the development of the School of Physical Sciences and the wider DCU community in his more recent roles as director of the National Centre for Plasma Science and Technology and as Vice President for Research.