University of Galway Professor Pat Dolan is to be awarded the Medal of the Maria Grzegorzewska University in Warsaw for life-long achievements in the field of children’s rights.
The honour is being bestowed as part of celebrations to mark the 20th anniversary of the establishment of the UNESCO Janusz Korczak Chair at the university – named in memory of the Polish-Jewish paediatrician, educator, author and children’s rights advocate who is believed to have perished in a Nazi death camp with almost 200 children from his orphanage.
Professor Dolan was awarded the UNESCO Chair in Children, Youth and Civic Engagement in 2008. As co-founder, with Professor John Canavan, of the UNESCO Child and Family Research Centre in 2007, and former Director of the Institute for Lifecourse and Society, Professor Dolan’s extensive body of work is highly relevant to the lived lives of children, youth and families, in particular those experiencing social exclusion, adversity and mental health challenges. He has pioneered youth research by placing young people at the heart of his work and also by promoting a fresh outlook on the importance of empathy in education.
For more than 10 years, Professor Dolan has worked with Oscar-winning actor Cillian Murphy, who has won this year’s Academy Award for Best Actor for his portrayal of the eponymous father of the atomic bomb in the movie Oppenheimer.
Professor Dolan and Cillian Murphy work together thanks to a shared interest in the role of empathy and social and emotional learning in building young people’s capacity to foster social connectedness.
In 2022, Cillian Murphy and Professor Dolan co-edited IONBHÁ: The Empathy Book For Ireland in association with Gillian Browne of University of Galway and Mark Brennan, Pennsylvania State University in the US. The publication featured a range of well-known figures and people from all walks of life sharing their personal reflections on empathy.
Cillian Murphy, Patron of the UNESCO Child and Family Research Centre at University of Galway, said; “I have spoken about the role empathy can play and it being the most important tool an actor can have. It is thanks to my association with the UNESCO centre at University of Galway that I can see the fundamental value of affording all young people the opportunity to learn the place and value of empathy.”
Professor Dolan will be formally honoured with the Medal of the Maria Grzegorzewska University at a special ceremony in June. The event will take place alongside the UNESCO Child and Family Research Centre’s international conference, ‘Promoting Equality through Family Support’, on June 13 and June 14.
