A group of second and third year Junior Mathematics Enrichment participants; Yvonne, Yuliya, Ranya, Lisa, Gerda, Emma and Anoushka from Dominican College Taylors’ Hill were invited to give a talk at a recent event on the recognition of Irish-based women in STEM, celebrating the life and work of renowned Irish mathematical physicist Sheila Christina Tinney (née Power, 15 January 1918 – 27 March 2010).
Sheila Tinney was one of the first Irish women to complete a PhD in the mathematical sciences, the first woman to be appointed as associate professor in mathematical physics in Ireland, and one of the first four women admitted to the Royal Irish Academy (RIA) in 1949. In 2016, Accenture, in partnership with the RIA, acknowledged her achievements by commissioning the portrait ‘Sheila Tinney’ by the artist Vera Klute as part of the Women on Walls campaign celebrating Irish academic leaders. The School of Mathematics, Statistics and Applied Mathematics unveiled a reproduction print of the original on May 8th, cofunded by NUI Galway’s Equality and Diversity Office.