Ursula Hilda Mary Martin (born 3 August 1953) is a British computer scientist, with research interests in theoretical computer science and formal methods. She is also known for her activities aimed at encouraging women in the fields of computing and mathematics. Since 2019, she has served as a professor at the School of Informatics, University of Edinburgh.[2][3][4][5][6]

Ursula Martin
Born
Ursula Hilda Mary Webb

(1953-08-03) 3 August 1953 (age 71)
London, UK
CitizenshipBritish
EducationAbbey College, Malvern
Alma mater
AwardsSuffrage Science award (2018)
Scientific career
FieldsMathematics
Computer Science
Institutions
ThesisAutomorphisms of Finitely-Generated Nilpotent Groups (1979)
Doctoral advisorStewart E. Stonehewer[1]
Websitepeople.maths.ox.ac.uk/martinu/

From 2014–2018, Martin was a Professor of Computer Science in the Department of Computer Science at the University of Oxford, and holds an EPSRC Established Career Fellowship. Prior to this she held a chair of Computer Science in the School of Electronic Engineering and Computer Science at Queen Mary, University of London, where she was Vice-Principal of Science and Engineering, 2005–2009.[7]

Education

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Martin was born in London on 3 August 1953 to Anne Louise (née Priestman) and Captain Geoffrey Richard Martin.[8] She was educated at Abbey College at Malvern Wells. In 1975 she graduated with an MA from Girton College, Cambridge, and in 1979 with a PhD from the University of Warwick, both in mathematics.[9][8][1]

Career and research

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Martin began in mathematics working in group theory, later moving into string rewriting systems.[10] She has held academic posts at University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, the University of Manchester and Royal Holloway, University of London. She has made sabbatical visits to Massachusetts Institute of Technology and SRI International (Menlo Park). In 2004 she was a visiting fellow at the Oxford Internet Institute.[11]

From 1992 to 2002, Martin was Professor of Computer Science at the University of St Andrews in Scotland. She was the second female professor at the University, following Margaret Fairlie (Professor of Obstetrics and Gynaecology, 1940), since its foundation in 1411.[12][13]

From 2003 to 2005, Martin was seconded to the University of Cambridge Computer Laboratory part-time and served as the director of the Women@CL project[14] to lead local, national and international initiatives for women in computing, supported by Microsoft Research and Intel Cambridge Research. She was a Fellow of Newnham College, Cambridge.

Martin has served as an advisory editor for the Annals of Pure and Applied Logic journal (published by Elsevier) and on the editorial boards for The Journal of Computation and Mathematics (London Mathematical Society) and Formal Aspects of Computing (Springer-Verlag).

Publications

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Her publications include:

  • with Christopher Hollings and Adrian Rice, Ada Lovelace: The Making of a Computer Scientist, Oxford: The Bodleian Library, 2018, 114 pp. ISBN 978-1851244881

Honours and awards

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Martin was appointed Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE) in the 2012 New Year Honours for services to computer science.[15] In 2017 she was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society of Edinburgh (FRSE)[16] and the Royal Academy of Engineering (FREng).[17]

References

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  1. ^ a b Ursula Martin at the Mathematics Genealogy Project  
  2. ^ "Ursula Martin". Inf.ed.ac.uk.
  3. ^ "Women at Queen Mary Exhibition Online - Featured Women - Ursula Martin". Women.qmul.ac.uk. Retrieved 3 November 2021.
  4. ^ "Publications". Dcs.qmul.ac.uk. Retrieved 3 November 2021.
  5. ^ "Prof. Ursula Martin CBE FREng FRSE FBCS FIET FIMA | Mathematical Institute". Maths.ox.ac.uk. Retrieved 3 November 2021.
  6. ^ Ursula Martin at DBLP Bibliography Server  
  7. ^ "Professor Ursula Martin, Vice-Principal for Science & Engineering, QMUL". UK: Queen Mary, University of London. 3 January 2013. Retrieved 1 March 2015.
  8. ^ a b Anon (2017). "Martin, Prof. Ursula Hilda Mary". Who's Who (online Oxford University Press ed.). Oxford: A & C Black. doi:10.1093/ww/9780199540884.013.U258429. (Subscription or UK public library membership required.)
  9. ^ Webb, Ursula Hilda Mary (1978). Automorphisms of finitely generated nilpotent groups. warwick.ac.uk (PhD thesis). University of Warwick. EThOS uk.bl.ethos.476751.
  10. ^ Graham A. Niblo; Martin A. Roller (30 July 1993). Geometric Group Theory. Cambridge University Press. p. 37. ISBN 978-0-521-43529-1.
  11. ^ "Dr Ursula Martin: Former Visiting Fellow". UK: Oxford Internet Institute. Retrieved 1 March 2015.
  12. ^ "Professor Ursula Martin CBE FREng FRSE DSc". maths.ox.ac.uk. Retrieved 4 July 2024.
  13. ^ St Andrews Special Collections (7 March 2017). "Trailblazing Women at the University of St Andrews: A Celebration for International Women's Day". special-collections.wp.st-andrews.ac.uk. Retrieved 4 July 2024.
  14. ^ Women@CL, University of Cambridge, UK.
  15. ^ "No. 60009". The London Gazette (Supplement). 31 December 2011. p. 7.
  16. ^ "RSE Welcomes 60 New Fellows" (Press release). Royal Society of Edinburgh. 15 February 2017. Retrieved 28 March 2017.
  17. ^ "50 leaders in engineering elected to Academy Fellowship". Raeng.org.uk. Retrieved 12 September 2017.