University of Limerick academic Professor Orla Muldoon has won a prestigious international psychology award.
The founding professor of psychology at UL has been given the Nevitt Sanford award by the International Society of Political Psychology.
This award, set up in the honour of Nevitt Sanford, is presented annually to someone deemed by the committee to be engaged in the practical application of political psychological principles, or creating knowledge that is accessible and used by practitioners to make a positive difference.
Professor Muldoon, who has led the development of the Centre for Social Issues research at UL which supports the psychological study of social issues, said: “I am incredibly honoured to have been nominated for this award.
“My feelings on receiving it are a combination of incredulity and delight. I want to thank the committee, the International Society of Political Psychology and the colleagues that nominated me for the honour. I look forward to celebrating with them in a post COVID world,” she added.
In its citation, the committee said Prof Muldoon was an “exceptionally deserving recipient of the award”.
“Prof Muldoon is in the view of those who nominated her one of the very best political psychologists working in Europe today. She has a quite outstanding record of publication and grant holding. Moreover, her groundbreaking research has been published in what are recognized as the top journals in multiple fields — not only political psychology but also social, health, and applied psychology. Citation of her work is very high (and increasing rapidly) and it is clearly the case that she is one of the research stars of her generation,” it added.
Professor Muldoon was recently announced as one of four academics based at UL to receive Fulbright Scholarships to the US, marking a record year for the University in the scheme.
As a Fulbright Irish Scholar, Professor Muldoon will visit the University of Kansas to collaborate to develop theory and research in social psychology with an eminent scholar there. She will draw from the Midlife in the United States (MIDUS) Series to examine the role of identity in determining the impact of trauma on biological markers of stress.
