Pauline Mellon did her undergraduate work at UCD after which she received the Travelling Studentship in Mathematical Sciences from the National University of Ireland. Her doctoral work was at the University of Tuebingen, Germany and UCD. She held a permanent position in the Department of Mathematics at the University of Maynooth for a number of years before returning to a lectureship in UCD. She is currently an Associate Professor in the School of Mathematics and Statistics. She is also currently President of the Irish Mathematical Society and a committee member of the Physical, Chemical and Mathematical Sciences Committee of the Royal Irish Academy.