Dame Wendy Hall named one of the most influential women in UK IT

Professor Dame Wendy Hall, Dean of Physical and Applied Sciences at the University of Southampton, has been named as the second most influential woman in UK IT in a poll published in Computer Weekly.

Dame Wendy joins 24 other women who, according to Computer Weekly, represent role models who have an important role to play in the future diversity and success of the high-tech community.

“I'm delighted and flattered to have been included in such a distinguished list and I applaud Computer Weekly for their efforts to highlight the role of women in IT in the UK which is far more significant than is often realised,â€? said Dame Wendy.

“Such publicity will encourage others to consider careers in an industry that is one of the most exciting and important to be in today,â€? she added.

Dame Wendy has held many leadership roles in addition to her academic research in computer science, in the development of the World Wide Web and, more recently, in establishing and developing the new discipline of Web Science.

With Professor Sir Tim Berners-Lee and Professor Nigel Shadbolt, Dame Wendy co-founded the Web Science Research Initiative in 2006. She is currently a Director of the Web Science Trust, which has a global mission to support the development of research, education and thought leadership in Web Science.

Amongst the roles Dame Wendy has held are: President of the British Computer Society; the first non-North American to lead the Association for Computing Machinery, the world's largest organisation for computer professionals; a member of the Prime Minister's Council for Science and Technology; Senior Vice-President of the Royal Academy of Engineering; and a member of the Research Council of the European Research Council.

This summer, she has also received honorary degrees from Dalhousie University in Halifax, Nova Scotia, Queen's University in Belfast, and the University of Birmingham.