Jane Hillston - Biography#

Hillston gained a BA in Mathematics from the University of York, UK in 1985 and an MS in Mathematics from Lehigh University, USA in 1987. After a short spell in industry, she studied for a PhD in Computer Science at the University of Edinburgh, which was awarded in 1994.

Hillston was appointed Professor of Quantitative Modelling in the School of Informatics at the University of Edinburgh in 2006, having joined the University as a Lecturer in Computer Science in 1995. She was Director of the Laboratory for Foundations of Computer Science 2011–2014, and she is currently Director of Research and Deputy Head of the School of Informatics. From August 2018 she will become Head of School.

Hillston’s research is concerned with formal approaches to modelling dynamic behaviour, particularly the use of stochastic process algebras for performance modelling and stochastic verification. Her PhD dissertation was awarded the BCS/CPHC Distinguished Dissertation award in 1995 and she was the first recipient of the Roger Needham Award in 2005. She has published over 150 journal and conference papers and held several Research Council and European Commission grants. She serves on the editorial board of several journals.

Hillston has been a strong advocate for the greater participation of women in the field of Computer Science and Informatics throughout her career. In 2013 she led the School of Informatics at Edinburgh to be only the second computer science department in the UK to get a Silver Award from the Athena SWAN programme, recognising support and ambition for the careers of women. She is a member of the Women's Committee of the BCS Computing Academy in the UK, and from 2013-2017 she served on the Women in Informatics Research and Education working group of Informatics Europe. In 2016-2017 she was the chair of the working group and instigated the annual Minerva Informatics Equality Award.