With a heavy heart, the Computer Science department announces the passing of one of our alumni, JoAnne Holliday. 

JoAnne Holliday graduated from the University of California, Santa Barbara, in 2000 with her Ph.D. in Computer Science. After completing her degree, she joined the faculty at Santa Clara University. As one of Prof. Amr El Abbadi and Prof. Divy Agrawal's first students, they shared their memories of her tenacity and perseverance as being amazing and inspirational. Faculty have expressed many fond memories of JoAnne during her years at UCSB. While sitting in the same lab together, Prof. Giovanni Vigna spiritly recalls his interesting conversations about US culture with JoAnne when he first moved to UCSB. 

JoAnne Holliday notably made an impact here in our department with our faculty. Professor Emeritus Teo Gonzalez shares that she is one of the few people that had made the decision to start a Ph.D. program later in life, while still teaching at the previous university, finished it successfully, and then move on to become a professor at Santa Clara University. Amongst all the memories, it is apparent JoAnne Holliday was a very special person to so many. 

We extend our condolences to her husband, Kevin Coffman, and family.