Sheila Willis: 11th June

Sheila Willis (born 1952) is an Irish forensic scientist and was director general of Forensic Science Ireland from 2002 to 2016.

Willis went to school in Wexford and university  at UC Dublin where she completed her PhD. She initially worked in industry and subsequently employed in as a civil servant in the Irish forensic science laboratory and promoted, reaching the position of laboratory director. She was Director General of Forensic Science Ireland from 2002 to 2016. She developed the analytical facilities as well as recruiting a multidisciplinary team. This included DNA profiling analysis and initiating a national Irish DNA database in 2015 as the technology developed. Her final achievement before retiring was overseeing the foundation of a new purpose-built Forensic Science Laboratory building near Celbridge, Co Kildare.

Willis has been chair of the Association of Forensic Science Providers and has advised the UK and Irish governments. Standards and ethics for reporting forensic data and she chaired the group that produced the European Network of Forensic Science Institutes guidelines for evaluative reporting.

She is an honorary professor at the University of Dundee and member of the advisory board for the university's Leverhulme Research Centre for Forensic Science. Willis is an editor-in-chief of the Journal of Forensic Research,