The distinguished UCC graduates who are being honoured with Alumni Awards are:

Arts graduate, MICHAEL J DOWLING is President and Chief Executive Officer of the North Shore-Long Island Jewish (LIJ) Health System. From a small village in rural Limerick to the very heart of American political life in dynamic New York, was a journey made possible by his determination, love of education and proven ability as a strong leader. Today, he heads one of America’s largest private health care organisations, with an annual budget of more than €6 billion and a patient base totalling more than the Irish population. Michael has served in New York State government for 12 years, including 7 years as State Director of Health, Education and Human Services and Deputy Secretary to the governor. He is a former Professor of Social Policy at Fordham University Graduate School of Social Sciences and has been honoured with many distinguished awards.

Commerce graduate, PATRICK COVENEY is Chief Executive Officer of Greencore Group plc. In four short years, Patrick has led the business through a period of dramatic strategic, organisational, cultural and financial change. The former Irish sugar company is now positioned as a leading international manufacturer of convenience foods with 19 food manufacturing sites in the UK and the US, employing some 10,000 people. Recently, Greencore completed the acquisition of Uniq plc, creating a combined business with sales of €1.3 billion and more than 10,000 employees. Prior to his appointment as CEO, Patrick was Chief Financial Officer of Greencore. Patrick is the incoming President of the Dublin Chamber of Commerce for 2012. He is a former Rhodes Scholar at New College, Oxford, where he gained a DPhil in Management Studies.

Medical graduate, SR MIRIAM DUGGAN has dedicated her life to combating the HIV/AIDS pandemic in Africa where she is feted as ‘The Mother Teresa of Africa’. Sr Miriam who is a member of the Franciscan Missionary Sisters for Africa was Medical Superintendent at St Francis’ Hospital, Nsambya, Kampala in Uganda for 30 years. In response to the HIV/AIDS pandemic in 1987, she founded Youth Alive in an effort to address the root causes for the spread of HIV and help young people to make responsible choices and avoid getting AIDS. This prevention programme was successful in Uganda in reducing the rate of HIV/AIDS. The Programme was subsequently extended to 21 African countries. Sr Miriam has been honoured for her work by Harvard University and Holy Cross College in the US and in 2008 she was presented with a recognition award from the President and Parliament of Uganda.

Science graduate and Skibbereen native, PROFESSOR SÉAMUS DAVIS is an internationally renowned physicist. He is the JG White Distinguished Professor of Physical Sciences at Cornell University and is Senior Physicist at the Brookhaven National Laboratory in New York. Séamus also serves as Director of the Centre for Emergent Superconductivity, an Energy Frontier Research Centre of the US Department of Energy. Séamus conducts research into the behaviour of superconductors and superfluids at temperatures close to absolute zero in order to learn more about the fundamental physics of matter. He has received many distinguished honours including the Fritz London Memorial Prize (2005); considered the highest award in the field of low-temperature physics, and most recently the H. Kammerling Onnes Prize (2009) for Superconductivity Experiments. Séamus is a Fellow of the UK Institute of Physics and of the American Physical Society. He was elected to the US National Academy of Sciences in 2010.

KIERAN NESTOR is the recipient of the Alumnus Award for Voluntary Service to UCC. As Chairman of UCC Soccer & Alumni and under his stewardship, UCC has emerged victorious on 12 occasions in the All-Ireland Collingwood Cup and the junior Crowley Cup Competitions since 2000. Kieran is an inspiring mentor and coach to students of all sporting abilities. The Club organised 5 tours of the US for the Club since 2000, playing against Ivy League universities such as Harvard and Princeton. Kieran was a member of the UCC Alumni Board for many years. He established the UCC Soccer annual Colours Day Lunch in 2001 which attracts 300 graduates. He has also organised five BComm class reunions over the past 25 years. Kieran is a successful and highly driven business manager and entrepreneur.

UCC is grateful to the sponsors of the 2011 UCC Alumni Awards Programme; Architectural & Metal Systems (AMS), Bank of Ireland, Boston Scientific, Henry Ford & Son Limited and PricewaterhouseCoopers (PWC).

The annual UCC Alumni Achievement Awards Programme honours graduates who have obtained extraordinary distinction and success in their chosen fields. A UCC Alumnus Achievement Award is the highest honour the University can bestow upon a graduate. Both the Alumni Achievement Awards and the Alumnus Award for Voluntary Service to UCC aim to foster a spirit of loyalty, involvement and commitment to UCC amongst alumni. Dr Michael Murphy, UCC President said: “It gives me great pleasure to present an Alumnus Achievement Award to these graduates whose outstanding accomplishments have brought great honour to their alma mater. We regard our graduates as our global ambassadors and a valuable resource to the University.”

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