Queen’s University Belfast School of Law has announced the appointment of Professor Robin Hickey as the new head of the School of Law.

Professor Hickey earned his PhD at QUB and has held academic posts at QUB and Durham. He teaches and researches property law and legal history, and is particularly interested in foundational concepts of property like ‘ownership’ and ‘possession’.

His first book, Property and the Law of Finders (Hart, 2010) was a Finalist in the Inner Temple Book Prize 2011 (New Authors’ Category).

He edits a number of highly regarded collections, is Casenotes Editor of property journal The Conveyancer, and serves on the executive board of the US-based Association for Law, Property and Society.

Currently he is leading the AHRC-funded project ‘Restoring cultural property and communities after conflict’, which considers the harm caused by destruction of cultural property by case study in Cambodia.

Commenting on his appointment, Professor Hickey said: “I am very excited to be taking up this role, particularly at this graduation time of year when we will be celebrating the achievements of our students and the encouragement provided by their friends and families. Law is a great subject to study, and Queen’s is a great place to do it.”

He added: “The main task for me in the years ahead is to enable this wonderful community of scholars to do its best work, as we strive to make a difference to communities in Northern Ireland and beyond. I am genuinely excited about the prospects and opportunities ahead.”

Conor McCormick, a former PhD researcher at QUB, also revealed on Twitter that he had been appointed as a lecturer in law.