TWO GRADUATES of University College Cork have been inducted into the Royal Society of Canada (RSC), the country’s highest scholarly honour.
The two Cork men are University Research Professors at Memorial University (MU) in St John’s, Newfoundland, Canada. Dr Seán Brosnan, former head of the department of biochemistry at MU and Dr Patrick Parfrey, faculty of medicine at MU were inducted at a recent ceremony in Ottawa.
Founded in 1882, the RSC has about 1,800 fellows.
Drs Brosnan and Parfrey have a long history at Memorial University. Dr Parfrey is a UCC medical graduate while Dr Brosnan did his BSc and MSc in UCC and his DPhil at Oxford. Dr Brosnan joined the department of biochemistry at MU in 1972. Dr Parfrey joined the faculty of medicine in 1984.
As a medical doctor, Dr Parfrey is an expert in kidney disease and serves as a staff nephrologist with Eastern Health in Newfoundland. He is also known for his involvement in rugby in both Ireland and Canada.
Between 1970-77 he played for Munster including the game when Munster drew 3-3 with the New Zealand All-Blacks in 1973. He also won a cap for Ireland as a wing against the All Blacks in 1974.
After moving to Montreal, he coached Montreal Irish. He became coach of the Canadian National side and led them to the 1999 Rugby World Cup.