A new dean of agriculture and head of school has been appointed to University College Dublin’s (UCD’s) School of Agriculture and Food Science.
Professor Frank Monahan has been appointed to the role and took office from September 1, 2021.
According to a statement from UCD’s School of Agriculture and Food Science, Professor Monahan previously held the role of Associate Dean for Equality, Diversity and Inclusion, and Head of Food Science and Nutrition in the School of Agriculture and Food Science at UCD.
Professor Monahan is a food scientist, with a PhD in Food Science and Technology from University College Cork (UCC) following a BSc in Biochemistry from UCD.
Professor Monahan joined UCD after a post doctorate at the University of California, Davis.
His research and teaching focus is mainly on animal-derived foods, including meat, with a particular interest in how farm production affects the composition, quality and authenticity of foods of animal origin.
He has also had a deep involvement with UCD Volunteers Overseas, chairing its board of trustees for several years.
Professor Monahan takes over from Professor Alexander Evans who, according to the statement, completed “a very successful” two-year term as dean from 2011 – 2021.
AgSoc donation
In other UCD news, the university’s Agricultural Science Society (AgSoc) has donated a significant sum of money to two charities at a presentation on Friday, August 20.
The presentation took place outside the UCD Agriculture and Food Science Centre at UCD’s Belfield Campus.
This year, the two chosen charities were the organ donation community, Strange Boat, and the farm accident support network, Embrace Farm.
A total of €7,500 was donated to each charity, bringing the total amount raised by UCD’s AgSoc to €15,000.
Every year, AgSoc hosts a number of events throughout the college year and donates the proceeds from these events to charity.
However, during the college year 2020/2021 this proved to be a significant challenge, as the country found itself in lockdown as a result of the Covid-19 pandemic.