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Glucksman Funding Success

The University of Aberdeen's success in securing $1.85million funding has been highlighted in the Scottish Parliament. North-east MSP Dr Nanette Milne has put forward the following motion:

S2M-1067 Mrs Nanette Milne: Congratulations to the University of Aberdeen on $1.85 million Gift

"That the Parliament congratulates the University of Aberdeen on securing what is believed to be the single largest gift committed by an American fund to the study of humanities within a Scottish institution; notes that the $1.85 million gift will fund what is to be known as the Glucksman Chair of Irish and Scottish Studies; recognises that the university's Research Institute of Irish and Scottish Studies is the first of its kind in the world for graduate study and research on the history, language, literature and culture of Ireland and Scotland and one of the largest concentrations of Scottish or Irish expertise in any European university, and notes that the first holder of the new chair will be Professor Tom Devine, University Research Professor in Scottish history and Director of the Arts and Humanities Research Board Centre for Irish and Scottish Studies at the University of Aberdeen.

The motion has been supported by fellow MSPs: Mr David Davidson, Robert Brown, Mr Jamie Stone, Rob Gibson, Murray Tosh, Ms Sandra White, Alex Johnstone, Brian Adam, Robin Harper, David Mundell, Eleanor Scott, Shiona Baird, Donald Gorrie, Alex Neil, Mr Ted Brocklebank, Richard Lochhead, Lord James Douglas-Hamilton, Mrs Margaret Ewing, Fiona Hyslop, Phil Gallie, John Scott, Dr Jean Turner.

University celebrates St Patrick's Day with $1.85million gift

St Patrick's Day will mark a significant occasion in the University of Aberdeen's history when it celebrates the donation of one of the largest individual endowments gifted to the Institution.

The American Ireland Fund has committed $1.85 million to the University's Research Institute of Irish and Scottish Studies (RIISS), made possible by a gift from Lewis L and Loretta Brennan Glucksman. This is believed to be the largest sum of money committed by an American fund to the study of humanities within a Scottish institution.

The generous gift will fund the Chair of Irish and Scottish Studies – which will be known as the Glucksman Chair of Irish and Scottish Studies. RIISS is the first of its kind for graduate study and research on the history, language, literature and culture of Ireland and Scotland in the world and one of the largest concentrations of Scottish and Irish expertise in any university in Europe.

Professor C Duncan Rice, Principal of the University of Aberdeen, said that the gift marked a significant investment in supporting and developing the work of RIISS.

“I am overwhelmed by the generosity of the Glucksmans in funding this Chair,” said Principal Rice. “I know that they have a deep interest in the history and culture of Ireland. They have already been hugely generous in supporting scholarships at several of the greatest universities in the world, and I am delighted that this unique research centre at the University of Aberdeen has now received their support.

“The funding will give great encouragement and endorsement to RIISS and its scholars, and I am confident that the centre will continue to go from strength to strength, in no small part thanks to the support of the Glucksmans.”

Professor George Watson, Director of RIISS, said that the generosity of the Glucksmans was of the greatest significance in establishing the long-term future of both RIISS and of Irish-Scottish studies in the University.

Loretta Brennan Glucksman is the National Chairman of the American Ireland Fund and, together with her husband Lewis L Glucksman, is a noted philanthropist.   Among the many projects they have supported are the Glucksman Ireland House, a centre for Irish and Irish-American studies at New York University, and a number of university library projects in Ireland.

“The Research Institute of Irish and Scottish Studies has been a tremendous success since its inauguration by Irish President Mary McAleese in 1999, and we have been delighted to witness it achieving such a significant level of international distinction, such as the invitation to take part in the Smithsonian's ‘Great Schools' series, in its first five years” said Loretta Glucksman. “The Institute plays a huge role in developing and enhancing the profile of Scottish and Irish studies in Europe, and indeed in the wider international arena, and we are proud to be a part of its continuing success.”

The first holder of the Chair will be Professor Tom Devine, OBE, FBA., University Research Professor in Scottish History and Director of The AHRB Centre for Irish and Scottish Studies at the University of Aberdeen.

The gift forms part of the University of Aberdeen's ambitious Sixth Century fundraising campaign. Launched in 1999, the initial target was to raise £40million by the end of 2002; that barrier was passed with £47million raised by December 2002. The second phase of the campaign will be launched later this year.   

The Research Institute of Irish and Scottish Studies (RIISS)

The Research Institute of Irish and Scottish Studies (RIISS) was inaugurated by Mary McAleese, President of Ireland, on St Andrew's Day 1999 to develop interdisciplinary and co-operative programmes in Irish and Scottish Studies. The Institute builds on established and distinguished Irish and Scottish Studies in the University, particularly in the School of Divinity, History and Philosophy, and the School of Language and Literature, and has developed a flourishing Masters programme in Irish and Scottish Studies.

In 1999, the Institute secured a grant of almost £900, 000 over five years from the Arts and Humanities Research Board (AHRB) to develop an Aberdeen-based Research Centre for Irish and Scottish Studies in partnership with Trinity College, Dublin and the Queen's University of Belfast. The £900,000 funding was believed to be, at that date, the largest single sum in Scotland's academic history to have been awarded to the study of humanities.

Professor Thomas M Devine, OBE, BA, PhD, D.Litt. Hon D.Litt. (Queen's, Belfast), Hon D.Litt. (Abertay), FR Hists; FRSE, Hon MRIA, FBA

Professor Devine, whose work receives international acclaim, is one of the most prominent and distinguished practitioners of Irish and Scottish economic and social history working in the United Kingdom today. He has also been a leading figure in the comparative history of Irish and Scottish economic development, through publications and influential conferences. He was educated at Strathclyde University, Glasgow, where he graduated with first class honours in History in 1968 followed by a PhD and D.Litt.   He rose through the academic ranks from assistant lecturer to Reader, Professor, Head of Department, Dean of the Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences and finally Vice-Principal of the University in 1992.   In 1998 he accepted the Directorship of the world's first centre of advanced research in Irish and Scottish Studies at Aberdeen, which was formally inaugurated by President Mary McAleese on St Andrew's Day, 30 th November 1999.

Professor Devine is the author or editor of some two dozen books on such varied topics as emigration, famine, Scottish transatlantic commercial links, urban history, the Scottish Highlands and rural social history. His major book, The Scottish Nation (1999) became an international best seller and for a time, even outsold the adventures of Harry Potter in Scotland.   His most recent volume Scotland's Empire 1600-1815 (2003) has been widely acclaimed and formed the basis for a major six-part BBC2 series.   Professor Devine has won all three major prizes for Scottish historical research, is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Edinburgh, an Honorary Member of the Royal rish Academy (limited to 25 scholars world-wide) and a Fellow of the British Academy, one of only five historians of Scotland elected FBA in the last hundred years.   Professor Devine holds the honorary degrees of D.Litt. from the Queen's University, Belfast and the University of Abertay, Dundee.   In 2001, with the Noble Laureate, Sir James Black, inventor of beta-blockers, he was awarded the Royal Gold Medal, by H.M. The Queen, Scotland's highest academic accolade, on the recommendation of the Royal Society of Edinburgh Scotland's national academy.

Professor Devine has been a Trustee of the National Museums of Scotland, Convenor of the Irish-Scottish Academic Initiative (Trinity College; Queen's, Belfast; Aberdeen; Strathclyde and Edinburgh) and holds visiting Professorships across the Atlantic at the Universities of North Carolina and Guelph, Canada.   He is a member of the Research Advisory Committee of the Leverhulme Trust, ESRC Advisory Board on Devolution and Constitutional Change and the Scottish Council on Archives.

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Arts and Humanities Research Council

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