Former ambassador to Ireland and state rep Claire Cronin joins UMass Amherst
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While ambassador, two of Cronin's big priorities were convincing Irish companies to invest in the US, and increasing the visits from J-1 visa holders for summer work.
Cronin said Ireland currently ranks sixth among all countries in foreign direct investment in the US, up from ninth when she started. (Massachusetts, she said, was one of three states that Irish companies were most interested in, along with California and New Jersey.) And she said the US experienced a record number of J-1 visa holders coming from Ireland for summer work and travel, a fact she attributed in part to the 'Open Doors' program she launched with her staff to encourage young Irish adults to visit the Deerfield Residence in Dublin, the US ambassador's official home in Ireland; more than 5,000 students visited Deerfield over her three years there.
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While working as ambassador, Cronin said she learned about the full extent of UMass Amherst's global partnership program, which involves schools in 30 other countries, including Ireland.
She stepped down from the ambassador's role on the day President Trump was sworn in in January, and has spent much of the time since catching up with colleagues and friends. Six months may have passed, but she still sounds like she misses her time on the Emerald Isle.
'I was embraced by the Irish government,' Cronin said. 'They considered me one of their own. ... I may have left Ireland [but] my heart is still there.'
This is an installment of our weekly Bold Types column about the movers and shakers on Boston's business scene.
Jon Chesto can be reached at
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