Glucksman Ireland House at NYU held its 13th annual dinner gala on Tuesday, March 4, at the Mandarin Oriental Hotel at Columbus Circle in Manhattan.
The Gala, an annual fixture on the New York calendar, celebrates the best in Irish literature and arts, journalism, and philanthropy. Proceeds from the event support student resources, the publication of leading research through the Glucksman Irish Diaspora Series with NYU Press, dynamic public lectures and events, and the documentation of Irish American experiences through the Archives of Irish America.
Journalist Kaitlan Collins.
Each year, Glucksman Ireland House makes three awards: the Seamus Heaney Award for Arts & Letters, the Lewis L. Glucksman Award for Leadership, and the Pete Hamill Award for Journalistic Excellence. This year’s The honorees Anne Enright, who received the Seamus Heaney Award for Arts and Letters; Eileen Murray, the Lew Glucksman Award for Leadership; and Kaitlan Collins, the Pete Hamill Award for Journalistic Excellence. CNN’s Collins, detained in Washington by events last Tuesday, could not attend in person but she spoke to the dinner gala by video message.
Anne Enright was born in Dublin, where she now lives and works. She has published three collections of stories, collected as “Yesterday’s Weather,” one book of non-fiction, “Making Babies,” and eight novels, including “The Gathering,” which was the Irish Novel of the Year and won the 2007 Man Booker Prize, “The Forgotten Waltz,” which was awarded the Andrew Carnegie Medal for Excellence in Fiction, and “The Green Road,” which won the Irish Novel of the year and the Kerry Group Irish Fiction Award. Her work has been nominated for the Women’s Prize five times. From 2015 to 2018 she was the inaugural Laureate for Irish Fiction. Her latest, “The Wren,” is the winner of the 2024 Writer's Prize for Fiction.
Eileen Murray is a prominent financial executive best known for her role as Co-Chief Executive Officer of Bridgewater Associates, the world's largest hedge fund. She served as Co-CEO from 2011 to 2020, becoming the second-longest-serving chief executive in the firm's history after founder Ray Dalio. Prior to joining Bridgewater in 2009, Murray held senior leadership roles at major financial institutions, including Morgan Stanley, where she served as Global Head of Technology and Operations, and Credit Suisse, where she became the first woman on the executive board. A graduate of Manhattan College, Murray has also been deeply involved in board service and advisory roles. She chaired the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) from 2020 to 2022 and has been a board member of organizations like HSBC, Broadridge Financial Solutions, and Guardian Life Insurance. Beyond her corporate achievements, she is an advocate for innovation in areas such as artificial intelligence and electric vehicle infrastructure and is a supporter and a champion of numerous philanthropic initiatives.
Kaitlan Collins is the anchor of “The Source with Kaitlan Collins” weeknights at 9 pm ET and Chief White House Correspondent. On “The Source,” Collins chases the facts, asks the tough questions, and connects with her sources so viewers can get the very latest in primetime. She secures exclusive interviews with political power players, including her headline-worthy interviews with Secretary Hillary Clinton, Vice President-elect JD Vance, Attorney Marc Agnifilo, Former Attorney General William Barr, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak, GOP presidential candidates and more. In May 2023, Collins also moderated CNN’s live Republican Presidential Town Hall with former President Donald Trump, which was his first town hall-style event of the 2024 presidential campaign.
Previously, Collins was the co-anchor and chief correspondent of “CNN This Morning.” Prior to the launch of the morning show in November 2022, she served as CNN’s Chief White House Correspondent based in Washington, D.C. Since joining the network in 2017, Collins has broken several stories in her coverage of both the Biden and Trump administrations, including major staff departures and consequential policy decisions. In those years, she covered President Biden and President Trump abroad, and pushed both on the world stage.
Collins was named to 2024’s TIME100 Next List and has been included in Mediaite’s annual list of the Most Influential People in News Media since 2018. She was also named to Crain’s NewsPro’s 12 to Watch in TV News in 2019, as well as one of Forbes magazine’s 30 Under 30: Media in the same year. In 2023, she was named on Variety’s New Power of New York list.
Collins joined CNN from The Daily Caller, where she served as the White House Correspondent covering the first few months of the Trump administration and the 2016 election.
Collins is a graduate of the University of Alabama.
