
Staff Profile: Joy Holhut
We celebrate Joy's retirement after 40 years of service to UMass Amherst.
By Julia Myers
On April 1, 1984, Joy Holhut began her career at the University of Massachusetts, Amherst. During the last 4 decades, Joy has cultivated lifelong friendships, office camaraderie, and professional growth. Most of her career has been spent in the Speech, Language, and Hearing Sciences Department, formally known as Communication Disorders.
Please join us in honoring Joy Holhut, as she retires from the University of Massachusetts on her birthday, January 31st, 2025. To highlight her commitment and dedication, I interviewed Joy to share her achievements with the community she helped enrich.
With a wide smile, Joy reflects on her first day at the Information Processing Department as an EDP Entry Operator, within the Goodell Library. She quickly learned data punching and keyboarding alongside a new friend and colleague. Within this designated room, Joy sparked interest in learning American Sign Language (ASL) from her coworker, who was deaf. Outside of work, she took a few ASL courses and was eager to keep learning the language.

As she developed her professional skillset, Joy changed careers and began working in the Communication Disorders Department where she became the clinic secretary. During this time, Joy applied and was admitted to Northern Essex Community College where she planned to study American Sign Language and become an interpreter for the deaf. Facing a fork in the road, Joy decided to stay in the state and continued working at UMass, Amherst. Joy knew where her heart belonged and with warmth stated, “If it was meant to be, I would have gone.”
Within the next year, she got engaged to her late husband Ron and began working as the Clerk for 3 Deans on campus (Humanities and Fine Arts, Natural Sciences and Math and Social Behavior and Sciences).
Joy quickly returned to the Communication Disorders Department as an Administrative Assistant just before she got married. She was welcomed back by the cherished faculty, especially Harry Seymour, and his wife, Charlena, who were both Department Chairs of Communication Disorders and are renowned retirees from the University.
As she settled into her new career, she fostered relationships with cohorts for the following decades. She refined her skillset by managing academic and personal records, bookkeeping, and learning new technology. Above all else, the favorite part of her job was helping students and the invaluable interactions with them. Over the years, alumni from the past have called, and to their surprise, Joy was still there to help them. During those calls, Joy would recall their names (without their help) and reconnect with them. It’s no surprise the impact Joy has made within our department.
When asked about her overall experience at SLHS, she states, “In our department, we’ve always been a close-knit family. We’ve gone through heartache, sorrow, and celebrations.” With reflection in her eyes, she continues, “Everyone cares about each other outside of work and you can reach out to them if you need help. For the good and the bad.” From the highest of highs to the lowest of lows Joy has remained dedicated to her career at the Speech, Language, and Hearing Sciences department.
Looking back, Joy has seen our department transform and flourish over time. There have been departmental building moves, hiring additional faculty, and developing graduate degree programs. More recently, the department changed its name in the summer of 2023 and underwent an entire building renovation the past 4 years. Joy has not only seen these landmarks occur, but she also helped reach them.
As she prepares for retirement, Joy is excited about being more involved in one of her favorite passions, investigating the paranormal realm. She plans to fill her time with reading, traveling, and spending time with her grandmother. Her cats, Arona and Luna will be by her side as she enjoys the freedom of retirement. Lastly, she is enthusiastic about not paying for parking permits, union dues, and the potholes on her daily commute from Conway, Massachusetts.
Our department has cherished our time with Joy Holhut and the imprint she has left on our community. Today embarks a new chapter for Joy as she retires to a world of possibilities. To celebrate almost 41 years of hard work, email her at jholhut [at] comdis [dot] umass [dot] edu (jholhut[at]comdis[dot]umass[dot]edu) or rjholhut [at] gmail [dot] com (rjholhut[at]gmail[dot]com)