The first holder of the newly created Professorship of James Joyce Studies at UCD is to be Dr Anne Fogarty of the university's English department. Dr Fogarty is a leading Joyce scholar whose interests also encompass critical theory, feminist studies and Renaissance studies.
She has been director of the UCD James Joyce Summer School since 1997, following the death of Augustine Martin.
She is also due to become the first Irish president of the International James Joyce Foundation from 2008 - an appointment announced at the recent Joyce Symposium in Budapest. Dr Fogarty, from Cork, is editor of the Irish University Review.
In her new post, Dr Fogarty will be director of a new Research Centre for James Joyce Studies in the school of English and drama at UCD.
As a scholar, she is noted for her broad and inclusive approach to Joyce's work, and for her interest in its historical basis and implications. She does not shirk Joyce's difficulty but treats it in a refreshingly open and candid manner.
The Chair of Joyce Studies is a new post created by UCD that reflects a somewhat different set of priorities for the university, including an interest in presenting a prestigious and internationally known "brand" with which the university can be identified. There is, however, nothing artificial or strained in this presentation, given that Joyce was himself a student at this same college. Indeed, such a chair is, if anything, overdue.
This appointment is also likely to feature a considerable public "outreach" role.