Since 1989, Mr. Holtz served as a professor of library instructional services at UIS. His responsibilities at Brookens included general reference service, teaching the Library Research Methods course, helping the history, political science, public administration and management information systems departments with instruction and collection development and serving as library specialist for online database searches. He served as chair of the Library Program Department from 1991-93 and in 2000-01. He earned his bachelor's degree from the University of Notre Dame in 1981, and was an avid Notre Dame football fan. He earned his Master of Science in European Study and his Masters in Library Science from Indiana University. His had a special interest in military history, particularly the American Civil War, and while at Brookens he organized war gaming and simulations for students, and enjoyed visiting Civil War battle sites. His named scholarship supports any undergraduate student who demonstrates a financial need, but reflecting his own personal interest in history, the award is usually given to a student doing a history research and writing project.