Professor Patricia M McNamara

Biography

Professor Patricia Mannix McNamara is Interim Director of Human Rights Equality Diversity and Inclusion at the University of Limerick. A graduate of the Mater Dei Institute of Education she obtained her undergraduate degree in Religious Science and English in 1992. She began her career as a teacher of English, Religion and later added Social Personal and Health Education and Relationships and Sexuality Education to her teaching and curriculum expertise.  

After completing a Diploma in Women’s Studies at the University of Limerick and a Master’s by Research (on workplace bullying), also at the University of Limerick, she joined the School (then Department) of Education as a lecturer in Social Personal and Health Education and Health Promotion.  Professor Mannix McNamara led the Master’s in Health Education and Promotion and the Diploma in Drug and Alcohol Studies. Later she led the national consortium of partner universities on school leadership that implemented the Postgraduate Diploma in School Leadership, and the PhD in Educational Leadership. 

In 2010 Professor Mannix McNamara completed her PhD, which was a critical theoretical perspective on postgraduate pedagogical relationships in higher education. She has also held leadership roles such as the Deputy Head of the School of Education and later Head of the School of Education. She has represented UL on several bodies including the National Council for Curriculum and Assessment Board for Junior Cycle Reform.

Her research interests include education leadership, gender parity, equality, disability and diversity, workplace culture, workplace bullying, sexual and gender-based violence. She has taught and published on these topics throughout her academic career.