The IUSA Distinguished Alumni Award has been presented in Dublin to Mary McPartlan in recognition of her professional excellence, her commitment to Irish-US relationships and her outstanding contribution to culture education and music. Mary is a Galway based professional singer and artistic director of NUI Galway’s hugely successful Arts in Action programme. She is well known for her outstanding contribution to traditional Irish music, her critically acclaimed albums and her production of significant national cultural events and TV series. While a Fulbright Scholar in USA in 2013, Mary collaborated with American folk singer and song collector Jean Ritchie resulting in the establishment of an annual MA Scholarship and student exchange programme.