Wendy Hall facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Wendy Hall
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Hall in 2011
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Wendy Hall
25 October 1952 London, England, UK
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| Education | Ealing Grammar School for Girls |
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| Known for | Web science |
| Spouse(s) |
Peter E. Chandler
(m. 1980) |
| Awards | Suffrage Science award (2016) |
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| Thesis | Automorphisms and coverings of Klein surfaces (1977) |
| Doctoral advisor | David Singerman |
Dame Wendy Hall (born 25 October 1952) is a famous British computer scientist. She is a special professor of Computer Science at the University of Southampton. She has done a lot of important work on the World Wide Web and how people use computers.
Contents
Early Life and Education
Wendy Hall was born in London, England. She went to Ealing Grammar School for Girls. She then studied mathematics at the University of Southampton.
She earned her first degree (Bachelor of Science) in 1974. In 1977, she got her PhD, which is a very high degree. Her PhD paper was about "Automorphisms and coverings of Klein surfaces." Later, she also got a Master's degree in Computing from City University London.
Wendy Hall's Career in Computing
Wendy Hall returned to the University of Southampton in 1984. She joined a new group that studied computer science. Her work focused on multimedia and hypermedia. Multimedia means using different types of content like text, pictures, and sound. Hypermedia is like the internet, where you can click on links to move between different pieces of information.
Her team created a system called Microcosm. This system helped link information together, even before the World Wide Web existed! They even started a company called Multicosm Ltd. to share their ideas.
Building Early Web Systems
Wendy Hall and Hugh Davis led a research group at Southampton. They built important computer systems in the early days of linking information. These systems included:
- Microcosm 1994
- Distributed Link Services 1995
- Multicosm 1998
- Portal Maximizer 2001
These systems used a special server to store links. They could link parts of a Word document or a PDF file. This was similar to an early idea for linked documents by Vannevar Bush.
In 1994, Wendy Hall became the first female professor of engineering at the university. From 2002 to 2007, she was the Head of the School of Electronics and Computer Science.
Starting Web Science
In 2006, Wendy Hall helped start the Web Science Research Initiative (WSRI). She worked with Tim Berners-Lee, who invented the World Wide Web. The WSRI is now called the Web Science Trust. It helps people study and understand the internet.
This group helped create the idea of Web Science. This field looks at how the internet works and how it changes. Wendy Hall is now the executive director of the Web Science Trust.
Leadership Roles
Wendy Hall has held many important leadership roles. She was the President of the British Computer Society from 2003 to 2004. She also led the Association for Computing Machinery from 2008 to 2010. Since 2014, she has been a Commissioner for the Global Commission on Internet Governance.
In 2017, she was given the special title of Regius Professor of Computer Science. In 2020, she became the Chair of the Ada Lovelace Institute. This organization works on the ethical use of data and artificial intelligence.
Since 2022, she has been the main editor for Royal Society Open Science. She also led the Royal Society Publishing Board from 2017 to 2022.
Awards and Special Honours
Wendy Hall has received many awards for her work. She was made a Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE) in 2000. This is a special award from the Queen. In 2009, she was promoted to Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire (DBE). This means she can use the title "Dame" before her name.
She also has special honorary degrees from many universities. These include Oxford Brookes University and Cardiff University.
Recognized as a Top Expert
Wendy Hall is a Fellow of many important groups. Being a Fellow means you are recognized as a top expert in your field.
- In 2000, she became a Fellow of the Royal Academy of Engineering.
- She is a Fellow of the British Computer Society and the Institution of Engineering and Technology.
- In 2009, she became a Fellow of the Royal Society. This is one of the oldest and most respected scientific organizations in the world.
Her nomination for the Royal Society said she was recognized for understanding how people use large computer information systems. It also mentioned her work on Web Science. This new field helps us understand how the internet grows and changes.
In 2010, she was named a Fellow of the ACM. This was for her work on the semantic web and web science. The semantic web is about making internet data easier for computers to understand.
In 2013, she was named one of the 100 most powerful women in the UK by BBC Radio 4. She also won the Suffrage Science award in 2016.
Personal Life
Wendy Hall is married to Peter Chandler. He is a scientist who studies plasma physics.
See also
In Spanish: Wendy Hall para niños
