Barbara "Barb" Cicone

Barbara Cicone began her career as a civil servant at the University of Illinois in 1978 in the Henry Administration Building in the Records Department, where all student records from the university’s 1868 founding to present were processed. At the time, digital records were just being developed, so all student records were kept in large ledger books and individual ledger cards. In 1982, Barb changed her classification to Admissions and Records Officer and was hired by the then-Department of Computer Science in 1982. Barb assisted with the day-to-day duties regarding graduate students and their progress towards graduation. She was responsible for processing graduate student applications and assisting the admissions committee which consisted of faculty in the department.  From 1982 to her retirement in 2009, Barb served under department heads from James Snyder to interim head Michael Heath. In addition, Barb served under several directors of graduate programs including Michael Faiman, Geneva Belford, and Roy Campbell.

During Barb’s tenure, she witnessed the growth of computing education go from various on-campus graduate programs to the inclusion of domestic and international online programs; she saw this vast growth first from her office at the Digital Computer Lab and eventually from her new office at the Thomas M. Siebel Center for Computer Science. She was also involved with corporate programs, such as the AT&T Summer on Campus program.

Barb was very thankful for the opportunity to be a part of several campus-wide programs, such as the development of a program for potential graduate students to apply online, well before current online systems. Her involvement in that group led to her nomination and award for the Chancellor’s Distinguished Staff Award in 2003.

Barb’s favorite memories are working with the graduate students as they moved through the many steps from beginning of their graduate studies to the long-awaited completion, and then out into the “real” world. She was awarded the Dad’s Day Certificate of Merit Award in 2002 which focuses on supporting students. Barb is extremely fortunate to maintain contact with several of those students, including Nancy Amato, the current director of the Siebel School of Computing and Data Science.

Being selected for the 2026 Lenny Pitt Distinguished School Service Award is an honor she will never forget.