Hillary Clinton appointed as new chancellor of Queen's University Belfast in Ireland

Washington, January 3: Former US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has been appointed the new chancellor of Queen's University in Belfast, Ireland. Clinton, who has been a regular visitor to Northern Ireland going back to the first visit of President Bill Clinton in 1995, becomes the university's first female chancellor.

 

She will serve as chancellor for a five-year term, The Irish Times reported after quoting a statement issued by the varsity today. The position of chancellor has been vacant since the death in 2018 of Thomas J Moran, chairman, president, and chief executive of Mutual of America Life Insurance Company.

Clinton has longstanding connections to Northern Ireland and has visited frequently since her first trip, as first lady, in 1995. President Bill Clinton was the first president to visit Northern Ireland while in office, and Queens has since created the William J. Clinton Leadership Institute. Hillary Clinton has been honored for her work to ease tensions in Northern Ireland, per the Post.

While the first lady, she famously stopped at Belfast's Lamplighter cafe to meet with Catholic and Protestant women. One of them was Joyce McCartan, a peace activist Clinton later called an inspiration, per the BBC. McCartan died about a month later. In 1997, Clinton returned alone to deliver the first Joyce McCartan Memorial Lecture at Ulster University.