It is with real sadness that RIISS takes notice of the recent death of Professor Cairns Craig OBE, FRSE, FBA. The Glucksman Professor in Irish and Scottish Studies from his appointment to Aberdeen in 2005 to his retirement in 2023. He successfully oversaw the management of the second phase of AHRC Centre funding (2005-10). As part of this initiative, he relaunched Aberdeen University Press in 2006 and established the Journal of Irish and Scottish Studies and the Journal of Scottish Thought. During the Institute’s third phase, he oversaw the development of a number of research strands, including the Burgh Records Project and the Catholic Memory Project.
He was a vital force in the work of the Institute, as well as a scholar of the highest standing. His many publications included Intending Scotland: Exploration in Scottish Culture (2009); The Wealth of the Nation: Scotland, Culture and Independence (2018) and Muriel Spark: Existentialism and the Art of Death (2019).
He will be sorely missed.