Oct. 3, 2002--The University of Delaware will confer an honorary doctor of laws degree on Mary McAleese, the president of Ireland, at 11:30 a.m., Friday, Oct. 11. The event, free and open to the public, will be held in Mitchell Hall. Those planning to attend should call 831-2341 or send e-mail to [sdorr@udel.edu].

McAleese was inaugurated as the eighth President of Ireland in 1997. She is a graduate of Queen’s University in Belfast and practiced criminal and family law as a member of the North Ireland Bar.

In 1975, McAleese was appointed Reid Professor of Criminal Law, Criminology and Penology at Trinity College in Dublin, a position she held until 1979 when she left to pursue a career as a journalist. She returned to the Reid Professorship in 1981, while remaining a part-time journalist.

In 1987, McAleese was appointed director of the Institute of Professional Legal Studies, which trains barristers and solicitors for the legal profession in Northern Ireland. In 1994, she was appointed a pro-vice chancellor of Queen’s University.

McAleese also has served as a delegate to the 1995 White House Conference on Trade and Investment in Ireland, a member of the Catholic Church delegation to the 1996 North Commission on Contentious Parades, and as a founding member of the Irish Commission for Prisoners Overseas.

She is married to Martin McAleese and the mother of three children.