Dean of Law speaks about her passion for teaching

Prof Imelda Maher, Dean of Law speaks about her passion for teaching and what students can expect when they undertake a law degree…

Professor Imelda Maher is Dean of Law and Full Professor of European Law. She was general editor of Legal Studies (2012-2017) and is a member of the editorial boards of the European Law Journal and of the Irish Yearbook of International Law. Before returning to Ireland in 2006, she worked at the London School of Economics; the Research School of Social Sciences, Australian National University (where she was Director of the Centre for Competition and Consumer Policy); Birkbeck College, University of London; and Warwick University. She also has held Fellowships or visiting appointments at Peking University School of Transnational Law; the Institute of Advanced Legal Studies, London; Notre Dame Law School (London); Sydney University School of Law; The Europe Centre, Australian National University; and Lund University, Sweden. In 2008 she gave the prestigious general course lectures on economic law and governance at the Academy of European Law, European University Institute, Florence.

Professor Maher is a graduate of UCD (BCL), holds an LLM from Temple University and a Barrister-at-Law degree from the Kings Inns. She was elected as a member of the UCD Governing Authority from 2013. Elected a Member of the Royal Irish Academy in 2011 she is currently Secretary for Polite Literature and Antiquities for the Humanities and Social Sciences. She serves on the Board of the Irish Humanities Alliance and was also a founding member of the European Law Institute (Vienna). She was the first Irish woman to become President of the Society of Legal Scholars of the UK and Ireland (2016-2017), the largest scholarly society of common lawyers in Europe and hosted the SLS Annual Conference in September 2017 at the Sutherland School. She was Academic Director for the UCD Sutherland School of Law building, working with the UCD Foundation, the School Development Council as well as colleagues, the architects and project team to realise the academic vision behind the School which opened in November 2013.

UCD is renowned for exemplary lecturers and professors. Taught and motivated by these academics, our students have gone on to achieve great things. Presidents, Taoisigh, CEOs, Olympians, Oscar winners, international athletes, social justice champions, educators, innovators and entrepreneurs have all been taught by the inspirational academics here at UCD. The approaches to teaching, here at UCD, are as distinctive and varied as the scholars who teach the subject matter. What unifies all of our expert teachers is the passion that they have for their field of expertise. To view a selection of UCD lecturers and professors talk about their approach to teaching and passion for their subjects (opens in a new window)click on this link