Holliday Sims

Holliday Sims is currently a PhD student in the Department of Engineering Education under Dr. Adrienne Decker focusing on reforming computer science (CS) education. She graduated in May 2024 with her B.S in CS. Previously, she has conducted research in the CSE department under Dr. Joseph on examing the relationship between allocation of academic services, postsecondary education outcomes, and racial demographics through linear regression analysis. Later on, they were recognized for this AI research during the NY Governor’s 2024 State of the State Address. Holliday was invited to Gov. Kathy Hochul’s Annual State of the State address in Albany, NY, where she championed the creation of a $400 million state-of-the-art AI computing center called Empire AI. From this experience, she discovered her passion for equity-oriented computing research!

During the summer of 2023, she participated in the Ronald E. McNair Summer Research Program where she worked with Dr. Christopher Proctor in the Computational Literacies lab. During this internship, they worked to design an end-of-unit data science project for the pilot launch of UB’s CS Teacher Preparation Program, a new computer science fluency and preparation program for K-12 teachers in fall 2024 that aims to help them meet New York’s Computer Science and Digital Fluency Standards. In her future work, she aims to bring critical approaches to the forefront of computing education research, while addressing the intersectionality issues that exist for Black women in the field.

After earning her PhD, she aspires to contribute to national computing education policy changes, leveraging her research and own intersectional experiences to inform an equitable and welcoming approach to broaden the participation of Black women/girls in CS.