Ferdinand von Prondzynski

Ferdinand von Prondzynski (born 30 June 1954) is a German-born Irish citizen who was the former university leader in Ireland and Scotland, a lawyer and legal academic, a high-profile public commentator, and latterly a member of the clergy of the Scottish Episcopal Church (Anglican).

Ferdinand Victor Jean von Prondzynski was born at Bevensen on 30 June 1954.

The family moved in 1961 into Knockdrin Castle on the Knockdrin estate near Mullingar, County Westmeath.

The move, according to von Prondzynski, was due to his father's poor health, lack of funds to maintain Breese im Bruche, and a desire for a less stressful lifestyle.

After his family moved to Ireland in 1961, Ferdinand von Prondzynski was educated at Headfort School, Kells, County Meath.

In 1968 the family returned to Germany and he finished school at the Thomas-Morus Gymnasium in Oelde, Germany.

von Prondzynski worked for Dresdner Bank in Germany from 1972 to 1974, then returned to Ireland.

Von Prondzynski became an Irish citizen in 1976.

On his first day lecturing at Trinity College Dublin, von Prondzynski met English lecturer Heather Ingman, and they subsequently married.

Ingman became Adjunct Professor of English at Trinity, having previously worked at the University of Hull; she is also an academic author and novelist, and has been an occasional writer in the Irish Times.

Ingman and von Prondzynski have two sons, Sebastian and Theo.

Von Prondzynski was a member of the Church of Ireland, and later the Scottish Episcopal Church, and a keen follower of Newcastle United football club.

Having not planned to go to college, he studied at Trinity College Dublin, graduating with a Bachelor of Arts and a legal degree in 1978.

In 1980, von Prondzynski was appointed as a lecturer in the School of Business Studies, Trinity College Dublin, and became a Fellow of the College in 1987.

During his time at Trinity, he gained the nickname "the Red Baron" for his allegedly leftist industrial relations views.

In his early work he argued for a disengagement of the law from industrial relations, taking the position that problems and disputes were better resolved through bargaining than through litigation.

However, from the later 1980s onwards his views began to change, and he argued for a framework of employment regulation that took account of economic pressures and the need to maintain competitive conditions.

After a few years, Hans grew weary of farming and moved back to Germany and to Dyckerhoff AG, but the family kept their new estate in Ireland, and Hans retired to there in 1982.

He then pursued a PhD at the University of Cambridge, completing this in 1983.

He wrote the book Freedom of Association and Industrial Relations in 1984.

From 1991 to 2000 von Prondzynski was Professor of Law in the University of Hull, latterly taking a named chair as Jean Monnet Professor of European Social Law; for much of that time he was also a Dean – first of the School of Law, and latterly of the whole Faculty of Social Sciences.

He was also a Director of the British-American Business Council.

He died in Ireland in 1998, after a long illness.

Formerly the Principal and Vice-Chancellor of Robert Gordon University in Aberdeen, Scotland, he previously served as the second President of Dublin City University (DCU) in Ireland (2000-2010), and before that as a professor and dean at the University of Hull, and lecturer and Fellow at Trinity College Dublin.

von Prondzynski's family, then named Pradzynski, were originally of Kashubian origin.

This culminated in his contribution in 2000 where he argued that the law should protect employees' rights, but also promote business success and economic growth.

He has also published a number of books and articles on social policy and in particular on the importance of legal protection against discrimination.

He co-authored the first academic textbook on Irish employment law.

He is also an expert on European Union matters and on competition (antitrust) policy.

Von Prondzynski was appointed as the second president of Dublin City University (DCU) in July 2000, for a ten-year term, succeeding its founding president, Danny O'Hare, after 22 years.

He developed a high public profile and became known for his comments on higher education and other public policy issues.

During his tenure the university increased its external research funding won from 3 to 40 million euro.

He focused on interdisciplinary 'Academic Themes' in his time as the president of the DCU and introduced in the University's initial strategic plan during his term, Leading Change.

Irene von Prondzynski lived in Knockdrin until she died in 2017.

The von Prondzynski family home was for many years Knockdrin Castle and estate, near Mullingar, County Westmeath, Ireland; this was placed on the market in 2017 and sold in January 2021 for €10m.

He is a direct descendant of Ferdinand von Prondzynski, a 19th-century Prussian general from Groschowitz, near Oppeln in Silesia (now Groszowice, near Opole within Poland).

Konrad, his great-grandfather, previously had a square in Groszowice named after him.

Hans von Prondzynski was an officer in the German army during the Second World War, and was inter alia awarded the Iron Cross Class 1 (EK1).

After the war, he lost his lands in what became part of Poland and moved to the new West Germany, where he worked in the cement-making business Dyckerhoff AG.

They had four children: Isabelle, Ferdinand, Aglaja and Pia.