Anne Brindley (Class of 1968) wins Ordre des Palmes Académiques

After completing her primary and secondary education in Holy Child Killiney, Anne attended the Sorbonne and Trinity College Dublin.

She spent the last 26 years of her teaching career in Galway-Mayo Institute of Technology, where she lectured in French as an applied language for the Hospitality and Tourism sectors. This involved partnerships with Hotel Schools in France and Belgium, EU-funded student exchanges and industry placements.  She was also involved in the EU funded multi-award-winning hospitality and tourism language training website EuroCatering, which led to the creation of innovative teaching and learning modules.  Anne is now retired.

The Ordre des Palmes académiques (French for "Order of Academic Palms") is a national order bestowed by the French Republic on distinguished academics and teachers and for valuable service to universities, education and science. Originally established in 1808 by Emperor Napoleon as a decoration to honour eminent members of the University of Paris, it was changed into its current form as an order of merit on 4 October 1955 by President René Coty, making it one of the oldest civil honours bestowed by the French Republic. 

 Anne said “I am deeply honoured by this distinguished French award ‘Chevalier de l’Ordre des Palmes Académiques, au service de l’éducation, de la culture et de la promotion de la langue française comme spécialité, mais aussi en complément des métiers du tourisme et de la restauration’. I share this award with my colleagues in GMIT, across Ireland and Europe, and our students, all of whom contributed to projects and activities over many years”.

We congratulate Anne for this wonderful and well deserved honour.