Women in the History of Computing Technology

"Scientists and engineers are the future – innovation is based on it – and we have to get young people to want to work in that world and not just use the results of it."

"In my world, the next technology is the semantic web or linked data, rather than today's web of linked documents. That will lead to a whole new wave of businesses, applications and services. We don't know what they'll be, but they don't have to be in Silicon Valley. We need to talk it up and make people realise it's something we could do."

Professor Dame Wendy Hall

Member of the British prime minister's Council for Science and Technology and president of the Association for Computing Machinery (ACM) since July 2008, Dame Wendy Hall is one of the most successful female computer scientists nowadays. Holding a position as a professor of Computer Science at the University of Southampton, UK, Hall engages in continuous research on the applications of the Semantic Web and plays a significant role in the development of the emerging discipline of Web Science. In addition to being acknowledged as a great professional herself, she is also well-known for the efforts she puts in shaping science and engineering policy and education and the readiness with which she deploys her leading positions both on national and international bodies to encourage young people and women, in particular, to enter the field of Computer Science.

Wendy Hall was born on 25 October 1952 in West London, UK. She obtains her undergraduate and postgraduate degrees in mathematics from the University of Southampton, UK. Her computing career, however, only begins in 1984 when she returns to Southampton in order to join the newly formed computer science team there engaging in research on the emerging at that time disciplines of multimedia and hypermedia. With her pioneering work in those two fields, she makes her first steps towards becoming one of the most influential computer scientists in our time. Wendy’s team invents the Microcosm hypermedia system, a predecessor of today’s World Wide Web, and obtains a patent for it. Its work leads to the the development of revolutionary software, which receives an ITEA’95 award by the International Technology Education Association in 1995 and a BSCIT (Biodiversity Sciences Technology) award in 1996.

Shortly after her team’s success with the Microcosm hypermedia system, Hall becomes the founding Head of the Intelligence, Agents, Multimedia (IAM) Research Group in the School of Electronics and Computer Science at the University of Southampton. In 1994, she is appointed the institution’s first female professor of engineering. Her enthusiasm and hard work do not remain unnoticed and in 2002 she takes office as Head of the School, a position she keeps till 2007. During this period of time Hall focuses her research interests on subjects such as web technologies development (the Semantic Web, in particular), advanced knowledge technologies, hypermedia systems and link services, decentralized information systems, digital libraries, and human computer interaction. She publishes more than 350 papers in the areas of multimedia, hypermedia, digital libraries, and distributed information systems.

In 2006, along with Professor Sir Tim Berners-Lee, Professor Nigel Shadbolt, and Daniel Weitzner, Wendy Hall founds the Web Science Research Initiative. Launched as long-term research collaboration between MIT and the University of Southampton, the initiative’s main purpose is to promote the emerging discipline of Web Science.

Hall’s professional achievement is recognized by a number of different awards. In 2000, she is awarded a CBE in the Queen’s Birthday Honors list; in the same year she becomes a Fellow of the Royal Academy of Engineering (FREng). Wendy is, also, a Fellow of the British Computer Society (FBCS), the Institute of Engineering and Technology (FIET), and the City and Guilds. She holds honorary degrees from Oxford Brookes University, Glamorgan University, Cardiff University, the University of Pretoria, and Loughborough University. From 2003 till 2004, she serves as President of the British Computer Society and from 2005 till 2008 - as a senior Vice President of the Royal Academy of Engineering. In 2008, she is given the rare honor of being made a Guest Professor at Tsinghua University, Beijing, China.

In July 2008, Hall is elected as President of the Association of Computing Machinery (ACM), thus becoming the first non-North American to hold that position.

During her career, Wendy Hall continuously uses her leading role as a prominent computer scientist to advocate for female participation in the fields of science and engineering. Her example of dedication and professional achievement inspires hundredths of young women all over Europe. For her contribution to the introduction of women in Computer Science and modern technologies, the UK Fawcett Campaign for equality between men and women names her as an Inspiring Woman in 2005, and the UK Research Center for Women in Science, Engineering, and Technology selects her as one of six eminent Women of Outstanding Achievement in SET in 2006.

In October 2006, Wendy Hall becomes the first non-US woman to be awarded the Anita Borg Award for Technical Leadership.

Professor Wendy Hall is made a Dame Commander of the British Empire in the 2009 UK New Year’s Honors list for services to science and technology. She is recently elected a Fellow of the Royal Society.

Sources

The information presented above is taken from the following online sources:

• -- Wendy Hall, Professor of Computer Science (Professor Wendy Hall Personal Web Page)
• -- Professor Wendy Hall (Biography, Professor Wendy Hall Personal Web Page)
• -- Reality Check: An Interview with Professor Dame Wendy Hall (The Guardian)