Anne Murray, Festival Manager of the Galway Science and Technology Festival (GSTF) will represent Galway at the Network Ireland National Businesswoman of the Year Awards in September.
Anne will represent Galway at the national awards next month having won the STEM Professional category at the Network Ireland Galway Businesswoman of the Year Awards 2026.
The award recognises Anne’s career, leadership and contribution to STEM (science, technology, engineering and mathematics), during her career with IDA Ireland, Galway Science & Technology Festival and Sláinte Wellness.
The Network Ireland National Businesswoman of the Year Awards will be held in Galway on Friday, September 18 at the Galmont Hotel.
Anne Joined GSTF in 2010, initially taking responsibility for the Festival’s annual Schools Programme and supporting the flagship Festival Exhibition. Today, the School’s Programme engages approximately 200 primary and secondary schools reaching 30,000 students across Galway city and county each year.
The annual Exhibition at University of Galway attracts an audience of more than 15,000, making it one of the largest events held during National Science Week.
Speaking about the award, Anne said, “I grew up in an Ireland where young people were often expected to leave to find opportunity. I have been incredibly fortunate to spend my career contributing to a Galway where young people can now access world-class education and build world-class careers.”
She also commented, “While this is an individual award, it also reflects the strength of Galway’s wider STEM community including our companies, researchers, teachers and schools. It is a community where science is celebrated, curiosity is encouraged and young people are helped to see the opportunities available to them”
Under Anne’s leadership, GSTF has continually developed new and creative ways of making STEM relevant and accessible to people of all ages. In addition to the popular Exhibition, Festival highlights have included bringing the University of Leicester’s ‘Richard III Discovered Exhibition’ to Galway and displaying an original Enigma Machine used in codebreaking in World War II.
The Festival has also delivered many events which made science relatable to various audiences including TeenTech, The Science of Sea Swimming, The Science of Hurling and The Science of Women’s Health – demonstrating how science connects with everyday life, health, sport, history and the world around us.
Alongside her role with GSTF, Anne is the founder of Sláinte Wellness, a nutritional therapy and wellbeing clinic where she draws on health science, nutritional therapy and health-promotion principles to help people better understand the factors influencing their health and wellbeing.
Anne said representing Galway at the national awards was particularly meaningful: “Galway has undergone an extraordinary transformation into an internationally recognised centre for science, technology, medtech, research and innovation.”
“I am delighted to represent Network Ireland Galway at the national awards and proud that my work within Galway’s STEM community has been recognised.”
