University of Limerick building renamed amid sex abuse claims

A BUILDING in the University of Limerick (UL) has been renamed to “safeguard the interest and integrity” of the college.

The facility formerly known as the Schrödinger Building has been renamed, on an interim basis, the Science and Education Building.

The name change is understood to have taken place, without an official announcement, in 2022.

The building had been named after Erwin Schrödinger, a Nobel Prize-winning Austrian and naturalised Irish physicist who is best known for his thought experiment Schrödinger's cat.

However, allegations of sexual abuse came to light following an Irish Times article in 2021.

Walter Moore, in his book, “Schrödinger: Life and Thought”, also makes references to his behaviours and attitude towards women.

The name change follows that of Trinity College Dublin, which changed the name of one of its lecture halls that had been dedicated to Schrödinger, who worked at the Dublin college for a number of years.

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In 1938 Schrödinger came to Ireland following a personal invite from Taoiseach Éamon de Valera.

He was asked to help establish an Institute for Advanced Studies in Dublin, where he became the Director of the School for Theoretical Physics in 1940.

He remained there for 17 years, becoming a naturalized Irish citizen in 1948.

A spokesperson for the University of Limerick confirmed that a review of the naming of all buildings took place to safeguard the interest and integrity of the University of Limerick and “a formal procedure and policy is also in development.”

“Following a unanimous decision by the executive committee, the building was renamed on an interim basis as the Science and Education Building,” they added.