American College Dublin

American College Dublin, accredited by the Middle States Commission on Higher Education, was founded as a not-for-profit independent educational trust in May 1993 by Lynn University, a liberal arts institution located in Boca Raton, Florida. The College admitted its first liberal arts and business degree students in September 1993 and graduated its first class in 1996. The first graduation ceremony’s keynote speaker was Jean Kennedy Smith, American ambassador to Ireland and sister of former President John F. Kennedy, beginning a tradition of distinguished keynote speakers at the College commencements that would subsequently include Nobel Peace Prize recipients John Hume and Senator George Mitchell, former Attorney General and Goldman Sachs Chairman Peter Sutherland, former President of the European Parliament Pat Cox, Fianna Fail leader Micheál Martin, former Tánaiste Mary Harney and the sister of the former US Vice President Joe Biden, Valerie Biden Owens. The development of the College’s Dublin campus continued apace through the 1990s; in 2002 the institution expanded its operations with the establishment of a sister campus in Delaware, which became known as American College Delaware.