Galway writer and academic Dr Liam Leonard has been elected president of the Sociology Association of Ireland.
The author of more than 10 books and numerous international and national publications, Dr Leonard will implement a plan to bring the SAI into the contemporary communications age, linking with media outlets on relevant social issues. He will also instigate a membership drive to increase the SAI membership profile across the range of higher education institutions.
A recipient of national and international awards for teaching and research in 2012, Dr. Leonard will oversee the SAI's 40th anniversary year, which will culminate with their annual conference next spring. He has secured Tom Hayden, the US activist and former husband of Jane Fonda, to speak at the event, which has the theme of "Society from the Age of Aquarius to the Age of Austerity". Last year, Liam co-edited a collection of studies from Irish and Greek writers on the current 'crisis of the peripheries' facing the Eurozone.
Founded in 1973, the SAI currently has over 100 members in the association. These members come from a variety of different backgrounds, ranging through postgraduate students, lecturers, civil servants and social researchers.
Further information on the SAI is available from their website at www.sociology.ie
