Remembering JoAnne Holliday
Friends and colleagues in the School of Engineering mourn the loss of Computer Engineering Associate Professor JoAnne Holliday, who died February 13. Since joining the faculty in 2000, JoAnne taught classes in information security, wireless networks, and distributed systems.
"JoAnne was a driving force behind the creation of the Center for Advanced Study and Practice of Information Assurance (CASPIA) at Santa Clara, and served as its co-director from its inception in 2002 until her untimely passing. She participated in conferences and conversations with students, staff, and faculty members to develop expertise, create appropriate curricula, teach courses, hire other talented instructors, advise students, and secure approval from federal agencies for a certificate or diploma annotation indicating that students have acquired sufficient knowledge and judgment to enter the field of information assurance,” said Stephen Chiappari, CASPIA co-director.
Electrical Engineering Professor Sarah Kate Wilson said she will remember JoAnne’s sense of fun and her open manner. “One of the things I'll miss about JoAnne was we could talk about a lot of things and she and I could disagree in a positive way so that I could come away with new insights on things,” she said. Behnam Dezfouli, assistant professor and director of the SCU IoT Research Lab, appreciated the help JoAnne offered when he joined the department: “She provided me with great suggestions about managing my time and course load. She helped me to add new materials and revise a course that we both were teaching.” Computer Engineering Department Chair Nam Ling agreed, “JoAnne was very dedicated in helping others and was especially concerned that graduate students were well advised.” In fact, one her advisees, Ph.D. student Quoc Le, reports that a paper they wrote with Associate Professor Ahmed Amer, "RAID 4SMR: RAID array with Shingled Magnetic Recording Disk for Mass Storage Systems,” was recently accepted for publication in Springer's Journal of Computer Science and Technology. “Dr. JoAnne was warm and tried to help students not only on an academic but also on a personal level. She made the world a better place,” he said.
Researcher, teacher, colleague, and friend, Professor Holliday is missed by her colleagues and students, who respected her expertise and appreciated her kindness, good humor, and dedication.