Dame Muffy Calder (née Thomas; born 21 May 1958) is a Canadian-born British computer scientist, Vice-Principal and Head of College of Science and Engineering, and Professor of

Formal Methods In computer science, formal methods are mathematically rigorous techniques for the specification, development, and verification of software and hardware systems. The use of formal methods for software and hardware design is motivated by the exp ...

at the

University of Glasgow , image = UofG Coat of Arms.png , image_size = 150px , caption = Coat of arms Flag , latin_name = Universitas Glasguensis , motto = la, Via, Veritas, Vita , ...

. From 2012 to 2015 she was

Chief Scientific Advisor The UK Government Chief Scientific Adviser (GCSA) is the personal adviser on science and technology-related activities and policies to the Prime Minister and the Cabinet; and head of the Government Office for Science. The Chief Scientific Advi ...

to the Scottish Government.

Biography

Calder was born Muffy Thomas on 21 May 1958 in Shawinigan,

Quebec Quebec ( ; )According to the Canadian government, ''Québec'' (with the acute accent) is the official name in Canadian French and ''Quebec'' (without the accent) is the province's official name in Canadian English is one of the thirtee ...

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...

to Carmen and Lois (Hallen) van Thomas. She graduated with a

BSc A Bachelor of Science (BS, BSc, SB, or ScB; from the Latin ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for programs that generally last three to five years. The first university to admit a student to the degree of Bachelor of Science was the University ...

degree in

computer science Computer science is the study of computation, automation, and information. Computer science spans theoretical disciplines (such as algorithms, theory of computation, information theory, and automation) to practical disciplines (includi ...

from the

University of Stirling The University of Stirling (, gd, Oilthigh Shruighlea (abbreviated as Stir or Shruiglea, in post-nominals) is a public university in Stirling, Scotland, founded by royal charter in 1967. It is located in the Central Belt of Scotland, built ...

, and completed a PhD in computational science at the

University of St Andrews (Aien aristeuein) , motto_lang = grc , mottoeng = Ever to ExcelorEver to be the Best , established = , type = Public research university Ancient university , endowment ...

in 1987 under the supervision of Roy Dyckhoff. She published widely under the surname Thomas prior to her marriage to David Calder in 1998. She has worked at the

University of Glasgow , image = UofG Coat of Arms.png , image_size = 150px , caption = Coat of arms Flag , latin_name = Universitas Glasguensis , motto = la, Via, Veritas, Vita , ...

since 1988, and was Dean of Research in the College of Science and Engineering until 2012. She became Chief Scientific Adviser to the Scottish Government on 1 March 2012. Previously Calder has served as Chair of the UK Computing Research Committee and Chair of the British Computer Society Academy of Computing Research Committee. She became Vice-Principal and Head of College of Science and Engineering in 2015. In 2015 she was appointed to the Council of the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council.

Research

Calder summarises her research interests as "mathematical modelling and automated reasoning for concurrent, communicating systems". Calder published an influential overview on the feature interaction problem, with more than 300 citations at Google Scholar. Her research has extended to applying computer science methods to biochemical networks and cell signalling in bioinformatics, resulting in a number of papers.

Awards and recognition

Calder was appointed

Order of the British Empire The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding contributions to the arts and sciences, work with charitable and welfare organisations, and public service outside the civil service. It was established o ...

(OBE) in the 2011 New Year Honours for services to computer science and Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire (DBE) in the

2020 Birthday Honours The Queen's Birthday Honours for 2020 are appointments by some of the 16 Commonwealth realms of Queen Elizabeth II to various orders and honours to reward and highlight good works by citizens of those countries. The Birthday Honours are awarded ...

for services to research and education. She holds fellowships of the Royal Society of Edinburgh (2000), the British Computer Society (2002), the

Institution of Electrical Engineers The Institution of Electrical Engineers (IEE) was a British professional organisation of electronics, electrical, manufacturing, and Information Technology professionals, especially electrical engineers. It began in 1871 as the Society of T ...

(2002) and the Royal Academy of Engineering (2013). Calder was listed as 21st most influential woman in Scotland, 2012, by '' The Herald''.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Calder, Muffy Living people Scottish computer scientists Scottish women scientists Fellows of the Royal Society of Edinburgh Civil servants in the Scottish Government British women computer scientists Alumni of the University of Stirling Alumni of the University of St Andrews Academics of the University of Glasgow Dames Commander of the Order of the British Empire 1958 births Fellows of the Royal Academy of Engineering Female Fellows of the Royal Academy of Engineering Fellows of the British Computer Society Fellows of the Institution of Engineering and Technology 21st-century women engineers Scottish women academics