Prof Kuch (70), the university’s inaugural Eamon Cleary Professor of Irish Studies and co-director of the Centre for Irish and Scottish Studies, said the centre had also added to Otago University’s strong international reputation.
Prof Kuch was born in Tasmania, and was based in Sydney before he took up his post at Otago in 2006.
He retires from the university this month, and will return to Sydney.
The establishment of the Irish studies professorship after an endowment from the Eamon Cleary Trust meant Otago was the only university in New Zealand and Australia that offered an undergraduate minor in Irish studies, he said.
"It’s been nice to be able to do that from Dunedin.
"What’s proved most enjoyable is having that marvellous privilege of working with eager, intelligent and responsive young minds."
As well as working with Irish studies students, he had also appreciated the "exceptional" quality of the university library, and the Otago law library had also proved "particularly valuable for my work".
His most recent book, Irish Divorce/Joyce’s Ulysses (2017) was critically acclaimed for recovering a lost history of Irish divorce, and also changing the way the novel is interpreted.
He had also enjoyed discussing Irish literature and culture at many speaking events and conferences, including a conference on "The New Zealand Response to the 1916 Easter Rising", which was held in Dunedin in 2016.
Otago humanities pro-vice-chancellor Tony Ballantyne said Prof Kuch had been "very active internationally and very good ambassador for both the university and Irish studies".