Jane Hillston | |
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![]() Prof Jane Hillston in 2021. | |
Born | 1963 (age 61–62) |
Alma mater | University of York Lehigh University University of Edinburgh |
Known for | PEPA |
Awards | Roger Needham Award (2004), Suffrage Science Award (2018) |
Scientific career | |
Institutions | University of Edinburgh |
Thesis | A Compositional Approach to Performance Modelling (1994) |
Doctoral advisor | Robert J. Pooley Julian Bradfield [1] |
Jane Elizabeth Hillston (born 1963) is a British computer scientist who is professor of quantitative modelling and former head of school in the School of Informatics, University of Edinburgh, Scotland. [2]
Hillston received a BA in Mathematics from the University of York in 1985, an MSc in Mathematics from Lehigh University in the United States in 1987 and a PhD in Computer Science from the University of Edinburgh in 1994, [3] where she has spent her subsequent academic career. Her PhD thesis was awarded the BCS/CPHC Distinguished Dissertation Awards in 1995 and has been published by Cambridge University Press. [4]
She has been an EPSRC Research Fellow (1994–1995), Lecturer (1995–2001), Reader (2001–2006) and Professor of Quantitative Modelling since 2006. Hillston is a member of the Laboratory for Foundations of Computer Science at Edinburgh. [5] In 2018 she was appointed Head of the School of Informatics at Edinburgh, [6] taking over from Johanna Moore, until succeeded by Helen Hastie in 2023. [7]
Jane Hillston is known for her work on stochastic process algebras. In particular, she has developed the PEPA process algebra, and helped develop Bio-PEPA, which is based on the earlier PEPA algebra and is specifically aimed at analyzing biochemical networks. [8] [9]
Since January 1st 2023 Hillston has been Editor-in-Chief of Proceedings of the Royal Society A (the first female Editor-in-Chief in the journal's history). She also serves on the editorial board of Logical Methods in Computer Science , Theoretical Computer Science , as one of the editors in the area of Theory of Natural Computing, [10] and as an Associate Editor of ACM Transactions on Modeling and Computer Simulation (TOMACS). [11]
In 2004, she received the first Roger Needham Award at the Royal Society in London [12] [13] awarded yearly for a distinguished research contributor in computer research by a UK-based researcher within ten years of their PhD. [14] In March 2007 she was elected to the fellowship of the Royal Society of Edinburgh. [15] [16] In 2018, Hillston was elected the membership of the Academia Europaea. [17] In 2018 she was a recipient of the Suffrage Science Award for Computer Science. [18] In 2021 she was awarded the RSE Lord Kelvin Medal. [19]
She led the University of Edinburgh School of Informatics in applying for an Athena SWAN Award, [20] which they subsequently achieved silver in. [21] The award shows that the department provides a "supportive environment" for female students.
Hillston was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society in May 2022. [22]
She was appointed Member of the Order of the British Empire (MBE) in the 2023 Birthday Honours for services to computer science and women in science. [23]