{{Short description|British computer scientist (born 1963)}} {{Use dmy dates|date=July 2020}} {{Use British English|date=November 2017}} {{BLP primary sources|date=November 2012}} {{Infobox scientist | name = Jane Hillston | honorific_suffix = {{postnominals|country=GBR|size=100%|MBE|FRS|FRSE}} | image = JaneHillston220221.jpg | caption = Prof Jane Hillston in 2021. | birth_date = {{birth year and age|1963}} | birth_place = | death_date = | death_place = | citizenship = | nationality = | ethnicity = | field = | work_institutions = University of Edinburgh | alma_mater = University of York<br />Lehigh University <br />University of Edinburgh | doctoral_advisor = Robert J. Pooley<br />Julian Bradfield<ref>{{MathGenealogy|id=126874}}</ref> | doctoral_students = | thesis_title = A Compositional Approach to Performance Modelling | thesis_year = 1994 | thesis_url = http://www.dcs.ed.ac.uk/pepa/book.pdf | known_for = PEPA | influences = | influenced = | prizes = Roger Needham Award (2004), Suffrage Science Award (2018) | religion = | footnotes = | signature = }} '''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.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.inf.ed.ac.uk/people/staff/Jane_Hillston.html|title=Jane Hillston|website=School of Informatics, University of Edinburgh|access-date=4 March 2020}}</ref>
== Early life and education == 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,<ref>{{cite thesis|last=Jane|first=Hillston|date=1994|title=Compositional approach to performance modelling|hdl=1842/15027}}</ref> 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.<ref>{{cite book|url=https://www.cambridge.org/core/books/compositional-approach-to-performance-modelling/747D3AFA0EFD25910475A7D9BC44922D|title=A Compositional Approach to Performance Modelling|last=Hillston|first=Jane|publisher=Cambridge Core|year=1996|doi=10.1017/cbo9780511569951|hdl=1842/15027|isbn=9780521571890|access-date=3 March 2020}}</ref>
== Research and career == 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.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://royalsociety.org/people/jane-hillston-9596/|title=Jane Hillston|website=The Royal Society|access-date=13 October 2015}}</ref> In 2018 she was appointed Head of the School of Informatics at Edinburgh,<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.ed.ac.uk/schools-departments/informatics/about/contact|title=Contact us|newspaper=The University of Edinburgh |date=11 September 2018|publisher=University of Edinburgh School of Informatics|access-date=11 September 2018}}</ref> taking over from Johanna Moore, until succeeded by Helen Hastie in 2023.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.ed.ac.uk/informatics/news-events/news/2023/helen-hastie-appointed-new-head-of-school|title=Professor Helen Hastie appointed the new Head of School of Informatics|date=4 May 2023|access-date=11 December 2023}}</ref>
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.<ref>{{cite book|author1=Jane Hillston|author2=Federica Ciocchetta|title=Bio-PEPA: A framework for the modelling and analysis of biological systems|date=August 2009}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|title=Bio-PEPA|url=http://homepages.inf.ed.ac.uk/jeh/Bio-PEPA/biopepa.html|website=School of Informatics, Edinburgh University|access-date=13 October 2015}}</ref>
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,<ref>{{cite book|url=https://www.journals.elsevier.com/theoretical-computer-science/editorial-board|title=Theoretical Computer Science Editorial Board}}</ref> and as an Associate Editor of ''ACM Transactions on Modeling and Computer Simulation'' (TOMACS).<ref>{{cite web|title=TOMACS Editorial Board|url=https://dl.acm.org/journal/tomacs/editorial-board|website=dl.acm.org|access-date=10 May 2020}}</ref>
== Honours and awards == In 2004, she received the first Roger Needham Award at the Royal Society in London<ref>[http://www.bcs.org/server.php?show=conWebDoc.1527 Dr Jane Hillston : Past winners : Roger Needham Award : BCS], ''British Computer Society'', 2004.</ref><ref>{{cite web|title=Edinburgh academic scoops BCS award with glitch predictor model|url=https://www.computerweekly.com/news/2240055601/Edinburgh-academic-scoops-BCS-award-with-glitch-predictor-model|website=ComputerWeekly.com|access-date=10 May 2020}}</ref> awarded yearly for a distinguished research contributor in computer research by a UK-based researcher within ten years of their PhD.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.bcs.org/category/5941|title=Roger Needham Award and Lecture {{!}} Awards and competitions {{!}} Events {{!}} BCS - The Chartered Institute for IT|website=www.bcs.org|access-date=27 October 2016}}</ref> In March 2007 she was elected to the fellowship of the Royal Society of Edinburgh.<ref>[http://www.inf.ed.ac.uk/events/news/janehillstonfrse.html Professor Jane Hillston Elected Fellow of the Royal Society of Edinburgh], ''University of Edinburgh School of Informatics'', 2007.</ref><ref>[http://www.royalsoced.org.uk/fellowship/elections/images07/index.htm Fellows Elected March 2007 — Induction Images], ''The Royal Society of Edinburgh'', 2007.</ref> In 2018, Hillston was elected the membership of the Academia Europaea.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.ae-info.org/ae/Member/Hillston_Jane|title=Academy of Europe: Hillston Jane|website=www.ae-info.org|access-date=4 March 2020}}</ref> In 2018 she was a recipient of the Suffrage Science Award for Computer Science.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.suffragescience.org/m-c-awardees|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200919060153/https://www.suffragescience.org/m-c-awardees|url-status=usurped|archive-date=19 September 2020|title=M&C AWARDEES|website=suffragescience|access-date=4 March 2020}}</ref> In 2021 she was awarded the RSE Lord Kelvin Medal.<ref>{{Cite web|last=Davidson|first=Charlotte|date=2021-10-05|title=Royal Society of Edinburgh awards academics|url=https://bulletin.ed.ac.uk/2021/10/05/royal-society-of-edinburgh-awards-academics/|access-date=2021-10-05|website=Bulletin|language=en-GB}}</ref>
She led the University of Edinburgh School of Informatics in applying for an Athena SWAN Award,<ref>{{cite web|title=Athena SWAN Charter|url=http://www.ecu.ac.uk/equality-charters/athena-swan/|website=Equality Challenge Unit}}</ref> which they subsequently achieved silver in.<ref>{{cite web|title=Informatics gains Silver Athena Swan Award|url=http://www.ed.ac.uk/informatics/news-events/recentnews/athenaswansilver|website=University of Edinburgh|access-date=13 October 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150910021858/http://www.ed.ac.uk/informatics/news-events/recentnews/athenaswansilver|archive-date=10 September 2015|url-status=dead}}</ref> 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.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2022-05-10 |title=Outstanding scientists elected as Fellows and Foreign Members of the Royal Society |url=https://royalsociety.org/news/2022/05/new-fellows-2022/ |access-date=2022-05-11 |website=Royal Society}}</ref> in 2023 she won the BCS Lovelace Medal for research in recognition of her work developing new approaches to modelling both artificial and natural systems by combining elements of formal languages with mathematical modelling.
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.<ref>{{London Gazette|issue=64082|supp=y|page=B20|date=17 June 2023}}</ref>
== References == {{Reflist}}
== External links == * [http://www.dcs.ed.ac.uk/home/jeh/ Jane Hillston's home page] * [http://www.inf.ed.ac.uk/people/staff/Jane_Hillston.html Official web page] * [http://www.lfcs.inf.ed.ac.uk/people/profiles/Jane_Hillston.html LFCS web page] * {{DBLP|name=Jane Hillston}}
{{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Hillston, Jane}} Category:1963 births Category:Living people Category:British computer scientists Category:Formal methods people Category:Alumni of the University of York Category:Lehigh University alumni Category:Alumni of the University of Edinburgh Category:Academics of the University of Edinburgh Category:British fellows of the Royal Society Category:Fellows of the Royal Society of Edinburgh Category:Members of Academia Europaea Category:British women computer scientists Category:Members of the Order of the British Empire