Doyle officially begins her provostship

Trinity’s first female Provost takes over from Patrick Prendergast today for a ten year term

Today, Professor Linda Doyle officially began her provostship.

Doyle was elected in April and will hold the position for ten years. 

She is the first woman in Trinity’s history to hold the position.

Doyle was the Dean of Research between 2018 and 2020. She is also Professor of Engineering and The Arts. 

She is the Chair of Trinity’s Douglas Hyde Gallery and of the Ofcom Spectrum Advisory Board in the UK.

After an eight week campaign, Doyle succeeded over Professor Linda Hogan and Professor Jane Ohlmeyer in the election, with her campaign focusing mainly on her ‘Imagine Trinity’ manifesto.

In this manifesto, Doyle put strong emphasis on her plans to increase diversity, deal with current administrative issues in College and tackle climate change. 

In an interview with Trinity News during the campaign, Doyle identified handling the aftermath of the pandemic, securing investment, and “the obstacles we put in our own way” as the three key challenges that College faces over the next decade.

“I would be the kind of person who would have a very open door and being regularly in contact and in communication would be really important for me,” Doyle said. 

Doyle wants to redistribute “some of the functionality that we have centrally to faculties and schools” as part of efforts to balance out power in College.

In July, outgoing Provost Patrick Prendergast announced that Doyle is set to nominate Professor Orla Shiels for the position of Vice Provost.

Shiels is a Professor of Molecular Diagnostics and the Director of Medical Ethics at the School of Medicine, Trinity College Dublin, as well as the Director of the Trinity Translational Medicine Institute (TTMI).

Doyle is set to nominate a number of people to College Officer roles on September 1 including the Vice Provost, Bursar, Registrar, and Dean of Students. 

Doyle’s Provostial term will end in 2031.

Kate Henshaw

Kate Henshaw is current Editor-in-Chief of Trinity News, and a graduate of Sociology and Social Policy. She previously served as Deputy Editor, News Editor and Assistant News Editor.