Mary P. Corcoran is Professor and Head of Department of Sociology at Maynooth University. A graduate of Trinity College Dublin and Columbia University, New York, her research interests lie primarily in the fields of urban sociology, public culture and the sociology of migration. The author of numerous books, scholarly articles and reports, Corcoran is the co-author with Jane Gray and Michel Peillon of Suburban Affiliations: social relations in the Greater Dublin Area (2010) which documents life in four of Dublin’s commuter suburbs. A former Taoiseach’s nominee to the National Economic and Social Forum (NESF), Corcoran is currently in her second term of office as a member of Maynooth University’s Governing Authority. She is a ministerial appointee to the Western Development Commission, and is a member of the Research Advisory Committee of SafeFood Ireland. She serves as a member of the Local Community Development Committee, South Dublin County Council, and is a member and vice-chairperson of the Board of the Childhood Development Initiative. Her Talk to Google workers in Dublin on Fostering Connection is available at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z9vEC59PHEA 61 MARY CORCORAN - BIOGRAPHY