Sally Anne McKee

Obituary

Sally A. McKee, 61, a renowned computer science professor and beloved friend, passed
away Feb. 12 in Greenville, S.C., after a short illness.
She received her bachelor’s degree from Yale University, master’s degree from Princeton
University and Ph.D. from the University of Virginia, all in computer science.
      She worked for Digital Equipment Corporation and Microsoft Corporation and held
internships at Digital Equipment Corporation’s Systems Research Center (now HP Labs) and
the former AT&T Bell Laboratories.
     She then worked as an adjunct assistant professor at the Oregon Graduate Institute of
Science and Technology, a research assistant professor and adjunct assistant professor at the
University of Utah, an assistant professor at Cornell University, and as a professor at Chalmers
University of Technology in Sweden.
     Until 2021 McKee was the C. Tycho Howle Chair in Collaborative Computing Environments
at Clemson University, and her research advanced cybersecurity in a world of growing threats.
She was hired in 2018 to oversee the Center of Economic Excellence in Collaborative
Computing.
     McKee won several best paper and service awards from various professional societies. She
was most proud of an article she co-authored in 1994 as a Ph.D. student, about computer
memory at a time when many of the scholars in her field were concentrating on caches, “Hitting
the Memory Wall: Implications of the Obvious,” and the term was picked up widely.
     McKee worked tirelessly in support of her graduate students and enjoyed mentoring rising
female computer scientists. Her mischievous sense of humor and profound generosity of spirit
will be remembered with gratitude. She is also remembered for her love of chocolate and
excellent culinary skills.
     Raised in Fenton, MI, she was predeceased by her parents, Donna and Alton, her brother,
Sam, and her nieces, Melissa and Meagan. She is survived by her sister-in-law, Christine, and
niece, Lindsey and her wife Gina DiBartolo, and a wide circle of friends who consider her a
vivacious, bright light gone too soon.
     Funeral arrangements are private. Donations in Sally’s memory can be made to the
Alzheimer’s Association at www.alz.org.

Memory wall