Cecilia Daly, 93 of Lincoln, passed away September 6, 2019. Cecilia “Sally” Rieger was born on April 23, 1926 in Garden City, New York, the fifth of seventh children of Ernest and Cecilia (Shaw) Rieger. From her girlhood on Long Island, she developed a lifelong love of the ocean and swimming. Her academic interests were focused on the sciences and led her to attain a master's degree from Vassar in Botany. She decided to pursue her doctorate at the University of Minnesota where she met and married J.M. “Mike” Daly.
Sally put her studies aside and concentrated on raising a family. They started in Minneapolis, moved to South Bend, Indiana, and finally settled in Lincoln, Nebraska. Sally and Mike welcomed 9 children in 11 years. After the youngest of their children started school, Sally started to take classes at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. In 1974, she was awarded her second master's degree and was the first woman hired as an instructor in the computer science department. In recognition of her ability to inspire and mentor students, she was appointed as chief freshman advisor and awarded an associate professorship.
“Sally was an instructor, chief undergraduate advisor, and associate professor in the CSE Department,” said computer science and engineering professor Steve Reichenbach. “She was very smart, hard-working, and a great person.”
“Sally was indeed a women-in-computing pioneer but you'd never know it because of her self-effacing personality,” said emeritus professor Sharad Seth. “I was fortunate to have known her as a student, a colleague, and a dear friend.”
Read Sally’s full obituary on the Lincoln Journal Star website.