Professor Kevin Kenny, Lewis and Loretta Glucksman Chair of Irish Studies and Director of Glucksman Ireland House at New York University, will step down from this role on May 31, but will continue as Professor of History in the Department of History at New York University, this according to a release from Glucksman Ireland House at NYU.
Stated the release: "Professor Michael Purugganan, Interim Dean of the Faculty of Arts and Sciences, has announced that Professor Kevin Kenny, the Lewis L. and Loretta Glucksman Chair of Irish Studies and Director of Glucksman Ireland House, has decided to step down from that role on May 31, 2026. Professor Kenny will continue as Professor of History in the Department of History at NYU.
"Professor Kelly Sullivan, Director of Graduate Studies at Glucksman Ireland House, will become the Interim Director of Glucksman Ireland House for the academic year 2026/27."
The release continued: "Professor Marion Casey will continue as Associate Director of Curriculum, and Nick Wolf will continue as Associate Director of Research. It is anticipated that New York University will share details of a search in the near future for the combined role of Director of Glucksman Ireland House and the Glucksman Chair of Irish Studies."
Loretta Brennan Glucksman, the Chair of the Advisory Board of Glucksman Ireland House, said: “We want to thank Professor Kenny for his many achievements in his role as the Glucksman Chair and Director at Glucksman Ireland House over the past eight years.
"Kevin has built on the outstanding legacy of his two predecessors, Professor Robert Scally and Professor Joe Lee, to sustain and enhance Glucksman Ireland House as the premier center of Irish and Irish American Studies, focusing on teaching, research/publishing, and a very popular and distinguished series of public programs in Irish Studies. I
"In addition, Kevin established and became Editor of the Glucksman Irish Diaspora series with NYU Press which has published 12 outstanding books providing new insights into Ireland’s global diaspora of 70 million people."
President of the Glucksman Ireland House Advisory Board, Ted Smyth, said: “We are very grateful to Professor Kenny for his remarkable and illustrious tenure as the Glucksman Chair and Director of Glucksman Ireland House.
"Kevin has ensured the highest standards in teaching, research, and public education in Irish Studies across the fields of literature, history, and political science. We are delighted that Kevin will continue to teach Irish and Diaspora Studies to the next generation of students at NYU in his role as Professor of History and that he will continue to foster new research in the area of diaspora studies.
“We are also grateful to Professor Kelly Sullivan for agreeing to become Interim Director for the academic year 2026/27.
“In this context, we wish to recognize the talented faculty and administration at Glucksman Ireland House who, with the support of NYU’s distinguished Deans, sustain this vibrant, collegial, and scholarly center of Irish Studies in one of the world’s most celebrated and global universities."
