Date: Nov 28, 2011

Dr. Maureen Murphy to be Awarded Honorary Doctor of Letters

Hofstra University, Hempstead, NY … Dr. Maureen Murphy, Hofstra University’s Joseph Dionne Professor of Teaching, Leadership and Learning, will be given an honorary Doctor of Letters on December 1, 2011, by the National University of Ireland for her contributions to Irish Studies. The degree will be awarded by Senator Maurice Manning, the chancellor of the National University of Ireland. Also receiving honorary degrees on that day will be Her Excellency Anne Anderson, Irish ambassador to the United Nations; scientist Dr. Michael L. Brodie; Kieran Mulvey, chief executive of the Labor Relations Commission; and historical lexicographer Dr. Diarmaid O Muirithe.

Dr. Maureen Murphy

Dr. Maureen Murphy is the former acting dean of Hofstra’s School of Education, Health and Human Services and a distinguished scholar and well-known authority in the areas of Irish folklore, Irish literature, Irish history, curriculum and instruction, and multicultural education. She has also successfully combined these areas in her efforts as director of the Great Irish Famine curriculum, a program funded through a grant from the New York State Education Department. The curriculum received the 2002 Social Studies Program of Excellence Award from the National Council for Social Studies.

In 2010, Dr. Murphy received accolades for her work on the editorial board of the newly published Dictionary of Irish Biography,  a collaborative project between Cambridge University Press and the Royal Irish Academy. Dr. Murphy was the only American to serve on the Dictionary’s editorial board. The Dictionary is considered the most comprehensive and authoritative biographical reference work available in both print and online for Ireland.

She has written more than 100 articles and book chapters and delivered more than 300 invited lectures in 18 countries. Additionally, Dr. Murphy was a Fulbright Fellow at University College, Dublin, and twice a State Department lecturer to Egypt. She is the past president of the American Conference for Irish Studies and the past chair of the International Association for the Study of Irish Literatures. She is also the historian of the Irish Hunger Memorial in Battery Park City.

Hofstra University is a dynamic private institution of higher education where more than 12,000 full and part-time students choose from undergraduate and graduate offerings in liberal arts and sciences, business, engineering, communication, education, health and human services, honors studies, a School of Law and the Hofstra North Shore-LIJ School of Medicine. The Hofstra community is driven, dynamic and energetic, helping students find and focus their strengths to prepare them for a successful future. Located in Nassau County, New York, on over 240 acres, the University is less than an hour from midtown Manhattan.

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