Modern language scholars receive honorary degrees at Trinity.

18 April، 2026

Modern language scholars receive honorary degrees at Trinity

Posted on: 17 April 2026

As part of the year-long celebrations to mark 250 years of modern languages at Trinity College Dublin, four outstanding individuals were conferred today with honorary degrees of the university for their exceptional contributions to this field. Linguistics and language scholar David Little, Italian scholar Corinna Salvadori Lonergan, literary translator Hans-Christian Oeser, and Eda Sagarra, Trinity’s first female Chair of German, all received Trinity’s highest honour from Chancellor Dr. Mary McAleese at a ceremony conducted in Latin in the historic Public Theatre. Trinity awards honorary degrees each year to mark exceptional achievements by individuals. All the above recipients have made an enormous impact on modern languages both in Ireland and overseas.

Trinity was the first university in Ireland to introduce the study of modern continental languages. Its first professors in French, German, Spanish, and Italian, appointed in 1776, were the first university Chairs in modern languages, and in the case of the Chairs in French and German, the oldest continuous Chairs in these languages in the world.

More on the honorary degree candidates:

David Little (Doctor in Letters)

David Little is a distinguished and internationally renowned scholar in applied linguistics and language education whose work has had a profound and lasting impact on language teaching, educational policy, and the inclusion of linguistically diverse learners in Ireland, across Europe, and beyond. In 1979, he founded the Centre for Language and Communication Studies (CLCS) at Trinity and later served as Director of CLCS and as Head of the School of Linguistic, Speech and Communication Sciences, guiding the school’s academic development until his retirement in 2008.