Dr Gemma Irvine

    Vice President for Equality and Diversity

    Vice President for Equality & Diversity

    About

    Dr Gemma Irvine is currently Vice-President of Equality & Diversity in Maynooth University with responsibility for leading strategic change in the areas of ensuring equality, valuing and celebrating diversity, and promoting inclusion across the entire University community, students and staff.  This includes oversight of the expansion and enhancement of access and widening participation programmes to ensure the University is inclusive for all students, supporting Excellence in Exile through our University of Sanctuary and Scholars at Risk programmes and working with stakeholders across the university on the Healthy Campus initiative. 

    Previously as Head of Policy and Strategic Planning in the Higher Education Authority (HEA), Dr Irvine coordinated a national approach to the development and implementation of policy for higher education, with specific responsibility for the enhancement of teaching and learning, research including open science, international education and equality, diversity and inclusion. Dr Irvine led the secretariat for the Irish National Review of Gender Equality in Irish Higher Education Institutions, 2016 and the Gender Equality Taskforce, 2018. 

     Dr Irvine was the Irish National Delegate for the European Commission’s ‘European Universities Network’ initiative and previously the Irish National Delegate for SSH in H2020 and for Research Infrastructures in the FP7 EU Programme. In 2012, Dr Irvine coordinated the operational merger of the Irish Research Council for Humanities and Social Sciences (IRCHSS) and the Irish Research Council for Science, Engineering and Technology (IRCSET) into the Irish Research Council (IRC), becoming the Assistant Director of the IRC.