معرفی
Professor Peter Gray is a prominent historian specializing in British-Irish relations, the Great Famine, and 19th-century political economy. He holds the position of Professor of Modern Irish History and serves as Director of the Institute of Irish Studies at Queen’s University Belfast (QUB). His academic journey includes degrees from the University of Cambridge and research fellowships at Downing College, Cambridge, and Queen’s University’s Institute of Irish Studies. He previously taught at the University of Southampton (1996–2005) and held visiting professorships at Boston College, the University of New Brunswick, and the University of Melbourne.
Gray’s research focuses on famine history, land politics, and Ulster radicalism. He has authored or edited over 20 books, including William Sharman Crawford and Ulster Radicalism (2023), which won the James S. Donnelly Sr Prize. Key projects include directing the EPPI database of parliamentary papers and leading the AHRC-funded Welfare and Public Health in Belfast initiative. His teaching spans undergraduate and postgraduate modules on Irish history, famine studies, and Belfast’s social history.
Gray’s awards include Fellowship of the Royal Historical Society (2005), membership in the Royal Irish Academy (2013), and the 2024 Donnelly Prize. He supervises PhD students in late 18th/19th-century Irish history and comparative famine studies. His academic leadership roles include chairing the Royal Irish Academy’s National Committee for Historical Sciences (2007–2010) and directing QUB’s Institute of Irish Studies since 2016.
Gray’s scholarly contributions extend to comparative imperial history, historical memory, and the role of religion in social movements. His work bridges academia and public engagement through exhibitions (e.g., the Paul Strzelecki Famine project) and media appearances, including BBC and RTE interviews.
