professor Ann nicholson

MAC.ROB Student, 1979-1982
PORTRAIT GALLERY INDUCTEE, 2014
D. Phil (Oxon), M.Sc, N.Sc (Hons)
research scientist & teacher

Professor Ann Nicholson is a leading international research scientist and teacher in Computer Science at Monash University, Melbourne, and in 2021 was appointed Dean of Monash’s Faculty of Information Technology. A pioneer of Bayesian Networks – a powerful and increasingly popular technology for probabilistic causal modelling in intelligent systems – Ann has collaborated with government and industry to utilise this technology to address real-world problems.

After receiving first-class honours bachelor and masters degrees at the University of Melbourne, in 1988 Ann was awarded a Rhodes Scholarship to the University of Oxford. She completed a doctorate in robotics, developing the application of dynamic Bayesian Networks (BNs) for automated monitoring. Ann then took up a postdoctoral research fellowship at Brown University in the US.

Since returning to Australia in 1994, Ann has been a world-leader in the development and application of Bayesian Network technologies. She has published widely, authoring two books, four book chapters and more than 100 research papers, as well as editing five conference proceedings. With long-term collaborator Kevin Korb, Ann established a consulting company which undertakes modelling and builds software tools used by government and industry partners to inform decision-making. Across her academic research and industry consulting she has applied Bayesian Network technology to problem-solving in many domains including meteorology, epidemiology, medicine, education and environmental science. Examples include the use of BNs in biosecurity risk assessment, weather forecasting, educational software for learning decimals, a tool for managing Victoria’s threatened species, and most recently a causal BN of COVID-19 for clinical decision support.

Ann has an outstanding record in teaching and academic administration, lecturing undergraduate students from first year to honours, innovating in teaching and assessment methods, designing curriculum at the subject and course level, and supervising 17 doctoral students and 42 honours and masters students. Her previous faculty leadership roles include Associate Dean Education (2014-2016) and Deputy Dean Research (2018-2020).

Ann is also an accomplished sportswoman who has played a major role in the development of women’s rugby in Victoria. Having earned two half-blues in rugby at Oxford, Ann served as a board member of the Victorian Rugby Union from 1998-2000, captained the first Victorian team to compete at nationals in 1995, and founded the Monash University women’s rugby team in 1997. Her cricketing achievements include captaining Oxford and receiving a full-blue and two half blues, as well as playing county cricket in England. In Australia she played district firsts for Hawthorn Cricket Club before taking on a developmental leadership role as captain/coach of the Monash University Women’s Cricket Club from 1996-2003.

Ann has also been active in the Association of Rhodes Scholars in Australia, contributing on selection panels, serving on the National Executive (2011-2016), and from 2019 has been Honorary Secretary to the Victorian Rhodes Scholars Selection Committee.