Wendy Hall

Professor of computer science, University of Southampton

• Born: October 25, 1952
• Place of Birth: West London, England

Primary Company/Organization: The Web Science Trust and Semantic Web

Introduction

Wendy Hall is one of the generation of computer innovators who are building on the work of the preceding generations to continue the spread of computing to as many people as possible around the world. Her focus is on making the Internet into a universal tool capable of delivering information in multimedia and hypermedia formats. She is a pioneer in digital libraries, the development of the Semantic Web, and the emerging discipline of web science.

Early Life

Born in West London, Wendy Hall had a natural aptitude for mathematics as a child and was the first in her family to attend university. At one time she considered a career in medicine. She earned her bachelor's degree with honors in mathematics from the University of Southampton in 1974. Her Ph.D. in pure mathematics from the same institution followed in 1977. In 1984, she became a lecturer in computer science at her alma mater. She then went on to earn a master's degree in computer science from City University of London in 1986.

Life's Work

Hall headed the team that in 1989 initiated the Microcosm Project, an open hypermedia system. Microcosm provided users with cross-application dynamic hyperlinks and was touted as a tool for development of industrial information management because it stored original documents of all types in their original formats, allowing software to collect and arrange all media into a single document tied together through link bases while preserving the integrity of the originals. An associated development was the distributed link service that broadened Microcosm to allow multiple users in a distributed arrangement.

As an open hypermedia system, Microcosm was a forerunner of the World Wide Web. Hypermedia allow authors to create without concern for sequentiality any combination of text or visual elements that they can by using information space, browsing at will. There is no problem of cognitive overload or getting lost in hyperspace because of too many paths, too much information, or hyperdocuments with so many cross-references that the user becomes disoriented. “Open hypermedia” (OH) users define hypermedia as media that allow integration of process and information and interchangeability of author and reader. OH allows insertion of links without alteration of the original text. Hypermedia also allow the creation of an interactive manipulable archive that contains research documentation as it evolves from initial notes to final publication. Southampton designed and implemented such a system for orthopedic surgeons to access the ongoing research of their peers and maintain currency and training in the field.

In 1994, Microcosm was patented and spun off to a commercial venture through Hall's start-up company Multicosm, which later became Active Navigation. Microcosm won an award in 1995 from the International Test and Evaluation Association (ITEA) and a BCS IT award in 1996 from the British Computer Society. Active Navigation later focused on web-based link services.

Also in 1994, Hall was appointed professor of computer science at the University of Southampton. Two years later, she became a Senior Fellow at the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC), a distinction she held until 2002. In 1997, she also became a member of Council of EPSRC. In 2000, she was awarded the honor of Commander of the British Empire (CBE). She became a Fellow of the Royal Academy of Engineering (2000), president of the British Computer Society (2003–2004), a member of the Prime Minister's Council for Science and Technology (2004–2010), a member of the Scientific Council of the European Research Council (2005–2010), a senior vice president of the Royal Academy of Engineering (2005–2008), a recipient of the Anita Borg Award for Technical Leadership (2006), a founding director of the Web Science Research Initiative (2006), vice president (2006–2008) and then president (2008–2010) of the Association for Computing Machinery (ACM), a member of the British Library Board (2007), Dame Commander of the British Empire (2009), and a Fellow of the Royal Society (2009). She is also a founding member of the European Research Council's Scientific Council. She has published more than three hundred papers for journals and conferences.

Hall was head of the School of Electronics and Computer Science (ECS) at Southampton from 2002 to 2007. With Tim Berners-Lee (creator of the World Wide Web) and Nigel Shadbolt (professor of artificial intelligence at Southampton), Hall created the Web Science Research Initiative in 2006, which became the Web Science Trust in 2009. The Semantic Web is an extension of the World Wide Web designed to allow people to share content beyond the limitations imposed by applications and websites. One early indicator of its promise was the ASBOrometer, which joins geographical information and data on antisocial behavior disorders (ASBOs) to show how many people in specific locations have such disorders. New data forms and new telecommunications devices have allowed projects such as the ASBOrometer and others yet unimagined. The first developers of the web were the university-based scientists. The new move is led by governments and public sectors. As the first iteration of the web revolutionized business models in industries such as music and publishing, the semantic web is expected to overturn other business models, education, medicine, and academic disciplines as well.

In 2009, as president of ACM, Hall focused on doubling that group's membership and promoting better collaboration among international members of that organization. She sought to proliferate computer societies in Europe, China, and India. Her target of 100,000 for ACM's membership seemed within reach, given the millions of computer workers around the world. In fostering ACM collaborations with the media and the National Science Foundation and other organizations, she warned that there was a problem with the significant decline in interest in computing careers. She worked with WGBH Boston on a program to encourage black and Hispanic girls to consider computer careers. She has explored options to get mainstream policy makers interested in computing and computer science issues. She noted that her pride in her status as Dame Commander of the British Empire is not merely personal: It is good for the academic field, for the computing community, and for women in technology.

In line with these interests is Hall's concern for the decline in girls' interest in computing and for what has become known as “dumbed down” computer science. As an inventor of the predecessor to the World Wide Web, Hall has suggested that perhaps girls should be taught how computers work rather than how to use computers for mundane tasks, such as creating spreadsheets or presentations or for learning secretarial competencies. In 2004, women in the United Kingdom accounted for only 19 percent of computer science majors, and by 2009 the percentage was down to 16 percent. Hall has noted that it did not help that one of the early home computers in the United Kingdom, the ZX Spectrum, was commonly used to play war games. She has also noted that her computer laboratory at Southampton is dominated by males, and there are few efforts to recruit women into the field. Some hopeful signs include that the British Computer Society's program to recruit girls to computer science and the toy maker Mattel marketing a Barbie doll who is a computer engineer.

Hall went on to serve as a dean at Southampton (2010–14), chair the European Union Commission's IST Advisory Group (2010–12), and belong to a number of advisory bodies, including for the World Economic Forum. In 2017 she was appointed Regius professor in computer science and Kluge Chair in Technology and Society at the Library of Congress, and in 2020, she was appointed chair of the Ada Lovelace Institute by the Nuffield Foundation, the organization's primary funder.

In 2022, Hall became the editor-in-chief of Royal Society Open Science. Hall has worked at the forefront of artificial intelligence (AI) for neary forty years. She is one of the United Kingdom's leading AI experts.

Personal Life

Hall is married to plasma physicist Peter Chandler, whom she met while she was working toward her Ph.D. Hall defines herself as a workaholic but works hard at enjoying holidays, too, particularly time on the beach and good meals and fine wine with her husband. She also defines herself as a shopper and partier.

Throughout her career, Hall, as a woman, has had to work harder and better than most men in her field. She was so ahead of her time that in early years her professors and colleagues failed to understand her work, regarding her as unlikely to succeed unless she followed a more conventional career path. She persisted in her belief that computers could provide access to a complete learning experience including video, audio, photographs, and other images—technology that is taken for granted today. Throughout her career, she has advocated for equality for women in information technology and as users and creators of Internet capabilities. The second female computer scientist to be named a Dame Commander of the British Empire (preceded only by technology entrepreneur Stephanie “Steve” Shirley), Hall has broken many glass ceilings.

Hall has continuously expressed her passion for computing and her sympathy for those stuck in work they do not enjoy. She notes that her career in computers has allowed her to travel the world, meet people, and exchange ideas—which a career in her original discipline, mathematics, would not have allowed, since mathematics is basically a solitary pursuit.

Bibliography

Dawood, Sarah. "'AI Is Invisible--That's Part of the Problem,' Says Wendy Hall." The New Statesman, June 2022, www.newstatesman.com/spotlight/tech-regulation/emerging-technologies/2022/06/ai-artificial-intelligence-invisible-problem-wendy-hall-leading-expert. Accessed 8 Mar. 2024.

“‘Geek’ Perception of Computer Science Putting Off Girls, Expert Warns, January 10, 2012.” The Guardian. 10 Jan. 2012: n. pag. Web. 12 May 2012.

Grange, Simon, et al. “The Dynamic Review Journal: A Scholarly Archive.” New Review of Hypermedia and Multimedia 11.1 (2005): 69–89. Academic Search Complete. Web. 12 May 2012.

Hall, Wendy.”WOMEN: Computer Scientist but no Geek.” Interview by Meera Murugesan. New Straits Times (Malaysia) 9 Apr. 2012: n. pag. Web. 12 May 2012.

Hoffmann, Leah. “Q&A: Our Dame Commander.” Communications of the ACM 52.4 (2009): 112–11. Business Source Complete. Web. 30 Apr. 2012.

“Pioneer of Cyberspace Honoured.” BBC. 31 Dec. 2008. Web. 1 May 2012.

Schofield, Kevin M., et al. “Candidates for Members at Large.” Communications of the ACM 47.5 (2004): 85–88. Business Source Complete. Web. 30 Apr. 2012.

Thomson, Rebecca. “Trawling the Net for Digital Advances.” Computer Weekly 20 Apr. 2010: 12. Business Source Complete. Web. 30 Apr. 2012.

Wills, Gary B., et al. “Industrial Strength Hypermedia: Design, Implementation and Application.” International Journal of Computer Integrated Manufacturing 13.3 (2000): 173–86. Business Source Complete. Web. 7 May 2012.

Wills, Gary B., et al. “An Inquiry-Led Personalised Navigation System (IPNS) Using Multi-dimensional Linkbases.” New Review of Hypermedia and Multimedia 14.1 (2008): 33–55. Academic Search Complete. Web. 7 May 2012.