Professor Roy Foster

I have known Jane Ohlmeyer for many years and I profoundly believe that she would be a terrific Provost of Trinity- a place I know well and which is close to my heart. A Provost should be a distinguished scholar, and her reputation and intellectual reach are global: see her pioneering work on the 1641 Depositiions, her magnum opus on Making Ireland English, and her recent and highly original exploration of Irish-Indian connections. Her forthcoming Ford Lectures at Oxford, one of the highest accolades a historian can achieve, are eagerly awaited. But, as witnessed by her dynamic Chairmanship of the Irish Research Council, she is also a forceful and visionary leader and administrator. I worked with her on the report on Humanities in Trinity, out of which came the innovative institution of the Long Room Hub, and all that followed. Sitting on the advisory Board for the Hub, I have witnessed the powerful and decisive input which she has brought to the enterprise, both in encouraging academic projects and raising financial support. Unlike many forces of nature (which she is), she knows how to listen as well as to lead, often with a leavening touch of humour; she is judicious as well as inspirational. She has brought commitment, verve, energy, and imagination to the many front-line roles she has held; she would, given the opportunity, do the same for College as a whole. At this critical time, Trinity’s future could be in no better hands.

R.F Foster,MA, Ph D, D Litt (Hons), Litt D (Hons), DCL (Hons), FRSL, FRHistS, MRIA (Hons), FTCD (Hons), FRCPI (Hons), MAE, FBA.

Emeritus Professor of Irish History, University of Oxford, and Emeritus Professor of Irish History and Literature, Queen Mary University of London