Background
Walsh, Edward M. was born on December 3, 1939 in Cork, Ireland. Son of Michael and Margaret (Leonard) Walsh.
Walsh, Edward M. was born on December 3, 1939 in Cork, Ireland. Son of Michael and Margaret (Leonard) Walsh.
Bachelor of Engineering, National University Ireland, 1961. Master of Science, Iowa State University, 1963. Doctor of Philosophy, Iowa State University, 1964.
Doctor of Laws (honorary), University Dublin, Ireland, 1992. Doctor of Laws (honorary), Queens University of Belfast, Ireland, 1995.
He held that post from its inception as the National Institute for Higher, Limerick, when he was appointed as Chairman of the Planning Board and Director in 1970, through its transformation to a university in 1989 until his retirement in 1998. He retains the title of Founding President. He is a native of Cork city.
Walsh is credited with securing funding from the World Bank and the European Investment Bank and developing a new university that contributed much to Ireland.
Walsh mounted an international fundraising campaign that secured the support of major philanthropists such as Chuck Feeney and Lewis Glucksman and permitted the University of Limerick to expand significantly at a time when government capital grants were being handed out scarcely. The University introduced to Ireland many of the academic and administrative systems used in leading United States universities such as continuous assessment, the weighted Grade Point Average and cooperative education.
At the outset it introduced Ireland"s first degree in European Studies and fostered international placement of students through European Union schemes such as the European Community Action Scheme for the Mobility of University Students programme. Walsh has served as founding Chairman of the Irish Council for Science Technology and Innovation, the National Technological Park, the National Council for Curriculum and Assessment, and the National Self–Portrait Collection of Ireland.
He has also served as Chairman of the Conference of Heads of Irish Universities and Vice President of the International Association of University Presidents.
He serves on the boards of a number of organisations
He holds honorary doctorates from five universities. Walsh is a chartered engineer and registered silversmith. Walsh"s memoir, Upstart: friends, foes and founding a university, describes the controversial events associated with the establishment of the Republic of Ireland"s first new university.
Published by Collins Press in October 2011, it was written in collaboration with journalist Kieran Fagan.
Board directors Irish American Partnership, Dublin, Irish Peace Institute, Limerick, Local Employment Action Programme Fund, Limerick. Member National Committee on American Foreign Policy. Fellow Royal Society for Arts Manufacturer and Commerce London (honorary), Institution of Electrical Engineers London (honorary), Institution of Engineers of Ireland (honorary).
Member New York Academy of Sciences, International Association University President (vice president), Royal Hibernian Academy Arts (honorary), Kinsale Yacht Club, Iniscealtra Sailing Club.
Married Stephanie Mary Barrett. Children: Michael D., Stephen E., Eoghan P., Elizabeth Jane.