Prof. Pauline Murphy

2006-2009

Pauline is Emeritus Professor, University of Ulster.

A southerner by birth, she went north after graduation (B.Comm,1st and PG H Dip Education) from NUI. Since then, she has pioneered many initiatives in education, at secondary, higher and community education levels. As Head of Economics and Social Sciences in St. Louise's College West Belfast—the largest girls' school in Europe, she introduced A levels in Economics, Politics, Sociology and Accounts to the school curriculum and as Chief Examiner Economics for the NI Schools Council, she introduced GCE Economics to the NI schools curriculum. Whilst teaching in St. Louise's, she also founded the NI Community Education Association (NICEA), to address the adult, further and community education needs of Protestant and Catholic communities; this developed from the Community School which she founded in St. Louise's. NICEA,a non gov. organisation had branches in Belfast, Bellaghy and Ballymoney.

When she joined the University of Ulster in 1985, Pauline networked with NICEA and initiated the Women's Opportunities/Social Inclusion Unit which set up access progression routes for mature students into Higher Education. With European Funding, in the context of action based research projects, she designed a range of new University of Ulster courses from Certificate level up to post_grad Diploma and Master's level. This initiative has gone from strength to strength, in joint research with other education projects in European countries. Many of the courses are franchised to Institutes of Further and Higher Education in Northern Ireland and linked to Institutes of Technology in the south.

Another initiative which has made a significant impact in NI is the Training for Women Network (TWN), which Professor Murphy founded and chaired for 6 years. As an Intermediary Funding Body for the European Special Support Programme for Peace and Reconciliation in NI, TWN allocated £12 million for education, training and development programmes and continues to be a partner in current EU funded projects. This work has made a significant contribution to enabling women to play a greater role in creating a better society in Northern Ireland.

At international level, Pauline is a Council member of The Association for World Education (AWE); was convener of the ICEA Women in Action Network and has presented research papers and chaired conferences globally: in Caracas, Trinidad, Washington, Toronto, Capetown, Harare, Thailand and most European countries. She has published extensively and received many awards for her inspiring academic and humanitarian achievements.

Pauline , on retirement from the University was made Emeritus Professor,Social Inclusion. She has established PPPd Consultancy and currently is consultant on Quality Assurance in a Higher Education Institution in Dublin and in Equality and Diversity in other Higher Education Institutions. She is proactive in networking and linking academic, business, civil society and local, regional, national and European sectors, as she believes that this is essential in developing and sustaining social, economic and political regeneration in Ireland.

The Irish Association has the potential to be a key player in this endeavour. Her involvement in this body is aimed to facilitate the realisation of this potential.