Brief Biography
I have been at the
University of Glasgow since January 1988 and am Vice-Principal and
Head of the College of Science and Engineering. For three years (until 2015) I
was on secondment to the Scottish Government as the
Chief Scientific Adviser, where I also co-chaired the Scottish Science Advisory Council.
Until 2012 I was Dean of Research in the College of Science and Engineering and
Senate Assessor on Court, and before that I was Head of Department of Computing
Science for four years, from 2003 to 2007.
Previously, I worked at the
Departments of Computing Science and
Mathematics, University of Stirling, and Computer
Science, University of Edinburgh. My research is in modelling and
reasoning about the behaviour of complex software and biochemical systems using
mathematics and automated reasoning tools.
I have a BSc. from the University of Stirling, and a PhD. from the University of St. Andrews. My PhD thesis: The Imperative Implementation of Algebraic Data Types, was supervised by Dr. Roy Dyckhoff. I am a Fellow of the Royal Society of Edinburgh, a Fellow of the Royal Academy of Engineering, a Fellow of the British Computer Society, and a Fellow of the City and Guilds of London Institute. I was awarded an OBE for service to computer science in the 2011 New Years Honours List. I was Royal Society Leverhulme Research Senior Fellow (2011-2012) and Royal Society Wolfson Merit Research Award (2011-2016), and a Suffrage Science award winner in Computing Science and Mathematics.
I have had short spells in
industry at British Ship Research Association and Burroughs Computers, and I
was a visiting scientist at DEC SRC (Digital Equip. Corp. Systems Research
Centre) in California, and a short-term BT Research Fellow at the BT Labs at Martlesham. In the distant past I was a tutor for the Open
University Technology course T101.
I am a member of UKRI-EPSRC Council and REF 2021 Main Panel B, chair of
DCMS Science Advisory Council,
chair of
BCS School Curriculum and Assessment Committee.
I was chair of the UKCRC
(UK Computing Research Committee) 2008-2010 and a member of the Scottish
Science Advisory Committee, which reports to the Scottish Executive, for five
years. I was a member of TOP (Technical Opportunities Panel) of the EPSRC and
secretary of the Adam Smith club for four years. I am currently on the Board of
the BCS Academy of Computing, and on the Fellowships committees of the 1851
Commission and the Royal Society. I was on the
Nurse Review of the Research Councils.
I have been external
examiner for computer science (undergraduate and/or postgraduate) degrees at
University of Edinburgh, University College Cork, Ireland, University of St.
Andrews and
My Erdos number is 4.
My Bacon number is 3 (On university challenge with Jeremy Paxman who was in Bridget Jones with James Faulkner who was in Xmen with Kevin Bacon).
I am married to David and we run for Westerlands
Cross Country Club; I play a bad violin in a quartet with this lot
and in the MathsStats ceilidh band.
