Jane Barclay Grimson (

née The birth name is the name of the person given upon their birth. The term may be applied to the surname, the given name or to the entire name. Where births are required to be officially registered, the entire name entered onto a births registe ...

Wright), is an Irish

computer engineer Computer engineering (CE, CoE, or CpE) is a branch of engineering specialized in developing computer hardware and software. It integrates several fields of electrical engineering, electronics engineering and computer science. Computer engine ...

. She is Fellow Emerita and Pro-Chancellor at

Trinity College Dublin Trinity College Dublin (), officially titled The College of the Holy and Undivided Trinity of Queen Elizabeth near Dublin, and legally incorporated as Trinity College, the University of Dublin (TCD), is the sole constituent college of the Unive ...

Education

Grimson attended

Alexandra College Alexandra College () is an independent day and boarding school for girls in Milltown, Dublin, Ireland. The school operates under a Church of Ireland ethos. History The school was founded in 1866 and takes its name from Princess Alexandra of ...

Dublin. She was the first woman to graduate in engineering from

obtaining a first class honors degree and gold medal in 1970. She received a master's degree in Computer Science from the

University of Toronto The University of Toronto (UToronto or U of T) is a public university, public research university whose main campus is located on the grounds that surround Queen's Park (Toronto), Queen's Park in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It was founded by ...

in 1971, and a PhD from the

University of Edinburgh The University of Edinburgh (, ; abbreviated as ''Edin.'' in Post-nominal letters, post-nominals) is a Public university, public research university based in Edinburgh, Scotland. Founded by the City of Edinburgh Council, town council under th ...

in 1981.

Research and career

In 1980, Grimson was appointed to a Lectureship in Computer Science at

where she spent her entire academic career, holding a Personal Chair in Health Informatics prior to her retirement in 2014. Her major research interests are in

Health Informatics Health informatics combines communications, information technology (IT), and health care to enhance patient care and is at the forefront of the medical technological revolution. It can be viewed as a branch of engineering and applied science. ...

, a field concerned with the application of

Information and Communications Technology Information and communications technology (ICT) is an extensional term for information technology (IT) that stresses the role of unified communications and the integration of telecommunications (telephone lines and wireless signals) and computer ...

to improve the quality and safety of healthcare.

Senior positions

In 1991, she was elected to Fellowship in Trinity College Dublin. Grimson served as Dean of Engineering and Systems Sciences from 1996 to 1999, as pro-Dean of Research in 2001 and as Vice-Provost from 2001 to 2005, being the first woman to ever take these roles. She was appointed Pro-Chancellor of the University of Dublin in 2016. A chartered Fellow of the Institution of Engineers of Ireland (now

Engineers Ireland The Institution of Engineers of Ireland () or the IEI, is an engineering society primarily representing members based in Ireland. The institution is Ireland’s recognised organisation for accreditation of professional engineering qualificat ...

) and a

EUR ING European Engineer (EUR ING) is an international professional certification, professional qualification and title for highly qualified engineers used in over 32 European countries. Contemporary EUR ING engineers are degree-qualified and have gained ...

, Professor Grimson served as President of

from 1999 to 2000, again the first woman to hold this role. She is a Fellow and Past-President (2002) of the Irish Academy of Engineering and of the Irish Computer Society (2000-2004). She was President of the Healthcare Informatics Society of Ireland from 1999 to 2006. Professor Grimson was partially seconded to the newly established

Health Information and Quality Authority The Health Information and Quality Authority (HIQA, ; ) is a statutory, government-funded agency in Ireland which monitors the safety and quality of the healthcare and social care systems. Mooted as early as 2001, HIQA received its powers and man ...

(HIQA) as its first Director of Health Information in 2007, where she led the development of national standards for health information. In 2014, she was appointed Acting Chief Executive of HIQA, just prior to her retirement. She has served on numerous boards including

Science Foundation Ireland Science Foundation Ireland (SFI; ) was a statutory body in Ireland. It was an agency of the Department of Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science, with responsibility for funding oriented basic and applied research in th ...

, the Energy Research Council, the

European Research Advisory Board EURAB was the European Research Advisory Board from 2001 to 2007. Its successor – since 2008 – is the European Research Area Board (ERAB). About It is a high-level, independent, advisory committee created by the European Commission to provid ...

, and the

Mary Robinson Mary Therese Winifred Robinson (; ; born 21 May 1944) is an Irish politician who served as the president of Ireland from December 1990 to September 1997. She was the country's first female president. Robinson had previously served as a senato ...

Foundation - Climate Justice and was chair of the board of

Mount Temple Comprehensive School Mount Temple Comprehensive School is a secondary school in Clontarf, Dublin, Ireland. The school operates under the patronage of the Church of Ireland Archbishop of Dublin, and has, as a primary objective, the provision of state-funded second ...

, the

Irish Research Council for Science, Engineering and Technology The Irish Research Council () was an associate agency of the Department of Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science, under the aegis of the Higher Education Authority. In November 2023, Simon Harris, the Minister for ...

and the

Health Research Board The Health Research Board (HRB) is a government agency responsible for funding, co-ordination, and oversight of medical research in Ireland Ireland (, ; ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean, in ...

Diversity work

Professor Grimson is an outspoken advocate for the advancement of women in engineering and in research more broadly. She helped to establis
WiSER
(the Centre for Women in Science and Engineering Research) at

, and also chaired a Department of Education and Science committee aiming to increase female representation in Science, Engineering and Technology. She also chaired the Gender Equality Task Force at

NUI Galway The University of Galway () is a public research university located in the city of Galway, Ireland. The university was founded in 1845 as "Queen's College, Galway". It was known as "University College, Galway" (UCG) () from 1908 to 1997 and as ...

from 2015 to 2016. She is an honorary member of

Women in Technology and Science Women in Technology and Science (or WITS) is an Irish organisation representing women working in science and technology. It accepts members from industry and academia, and of all ages, from students to professionals. It was founded in 1990 by M ...

Awards and honours

Professor Grimson was elected as an International Fellow of the

Royal Academy of Engineering The Royal Academy of Engineering (RAEng) is the United Kingdom's national academy of engineering. The Academy was founded in June 1976 as the Fellowship of Engineering with support from Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh, who became the first senio ...

in 2004. She was awarded the

O'Moore Medal The O'Moore Medal is awarded by the ''Healthcare Informatics Society'' of Ireland to individuals or organisations that have made a major contribution to Healthcare Informatics. The award is named after Professor Rory O'Moore, who received the awar ...

in 2007 in recognition of her contribution to the field of Health Informatics. In 2009, she was elected as a member of the Royal Irish Academy. In 2017 she was awarded an honorary degree by

Personal life

Professor Grimson's father was Professor Bill Wright, Chair of Civil Engineering in Trinity College Dublin. She married a fellow Engineering student at Trinity, Bill Grimson.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Grimson, Jane 1949 births Living people People educated at Alexandra College Fellows of the Royal Academy of Engineering Female fellows of the Royal Academy of Engineering Members of the Royal Irish Academy 21st-century women engineers Academics of Trinity College Dublin Alumni of Trinity College Dublin Fellows of Trinity College Dublin Irish computer scientists 21st-century Scottish women engineers 21st-century Scottish engineers 20th-century Irish engineers 20th-century Irish women engineers 21st-century Irish engineers 21st-century Irish women engineers