Professor Michael Farrell, RCSI Class of 1974, has been announced as the recipient of the 2023 Inspiring Educator Alumni Award.

The award recognises Professor Farrell’s inspirational approach to teaching excellence, commitment to innovative curriculum design and dedication to the educational values and vision of RCSI.

He is the first recipient of the Inspiring Educator Award, kindly supported by MPS, which is a new category within the Alumni Awards programme that has been celebrated annually since 2019. 

Professor Farrell graduated from RCSI in 1974 and trained in Pathology at St Vincent’s Hospital, Dublin and Westminster Hospital, London before beginning a career in Neuropathology at the University of Western Ontario, Canada where he also undertook a fellowship in Neuroimmunology. He returned to Dublin where he succeeded Professor Paddy Bofin as Neuropathologist to the Richmond Hospital, moving to the new Beaumont Hospital in 1987.

Accomplishments and contributions

Professor Farrell was appointed as the first Professor of Clinical Neurological Sciences at RCSI in 1996. Subsequently, he became Dean of the Institute of Irish Clinical Neuroscience and was also Chairman of the Neuroscience Cogwheel at Beaumont Hospital.

He is a member of the American Association of Neuropathologists and the British Neuropathological Society as well as the International Society of Neuropathology. His interests include all aspects of clinical neuroscience but with particular interests in epilepsy, neurodegeneration and mitochondrial disease.

Professor Farrell’s achievements were celebrated at the Alumni Awards Ceremony, held on Saturday, 1 April in RCSI. There, he was joined by 13 of the 18 Alumni Awardees who received their awards in-absentia in 2020, 2021 and 2022.

The award ceremony gave an opportunity to acknowledge and recognise the outstanding achievements of RCSI alumni, whose exemplary accomplishments and contributions as global healthcare professionals, are leading the world to better health.

Steadfast commitment

Speaking at the award ceremony, Aíne Gibbons, Director of Development and Alumni Relations, RCSI acknowledged those who had travelled from the USA, the UK, Germany and Belgium to receive their awards in-person. She said: “It has been a real honour to have our awardees from the last three years present with us tonight. For RCSI it is hugely important to acknowledge our awardees achievements in-person and to thank you.

“We are in equal measures proud and grateful to you for your steadfast commitment to your chosen professions, your continued connection to RCSI and your role as a source of inspiration and motivation to our students, staff and alumni.”

The annual Alumni Awards programme will continue in 2024 and the call for nominations will open in summer 2023. 

Read more about previous Alumni Award recipients here.