Background
He was born in Belfast, County Antrim, Northern Ireland on 1 August 1958, the eldest of seven children of Francis McCormac and Jean Heaney.
director physicist Chancellor of
He was born in Belfast, County Antrim, Northern Ireland on 1 August 1958, the eldest of seven children of Francis McCormac and Jean Heaney.
He gained a Bachelor of Science (Honours) degree in Physics and Geology in 1980 from the Council for National Academic Awards at the Ulster Polytechnic. In 1984, he received a Doctor of Philosophy degree in Upper Atmosphere Physics from the Council for National Academic Awards at the University of Southampton and Ulster Polytechnic.
He is a physicist whose specialist fields are Space physics and Radiocarbon dating. Previous roles include Professor and Pro Vice-Chancellor at Queen"s University Belfast and Vice-Chairman of Invest Northern Ireland. He chaired a review of teacher employment for the Scottish Government in 2011.
He became a post-doctoral research fellow at the University of Michigan in 1984 and worked on the National Aeronautics and Space Administration Dynamics Explorer program until 1990.
Between 1990 and 2001 he was director of the high-precision carbon dating laboratory at Queen"s University Belfast. He became Head of the School of Archaeology and Palaeoecology in 1997 and Pro-Vice Chancellor at Queen"s from 2001 to 2010.
As Polyvinyl chloride, he had responsibility for Academic and Financial Planning, Economic Development and External Affairs. He served on the Northern Ireland (Northen Ireland) Committee of the Institute of Directors, the Northen Ireland Economic Development Forum, the Northen Ireland Science and Industry Panel (MATRIX) and the boards of both the Northen Ireland Science Park and Business in the Community.
He was a Director and Chair of the Management Board of Queen"s University"s commercialisation company, QUBIS.
He is currently a member of Universities Scotland, Universities United Kingdom, The Carnegie Trust for the Universities of Scotland Executive Committee and chair of the Universities and Colleges Employers" Association (UCEA) Scottish Committee.