Remembering Dr. Kelli Sharp
Dear Integrative Movement Sciences Community,
It is with deep sadness that I write to share the news of the sudden passing of Dr. Kelli Sharp, Associate Professor and Chair of the Department of Dance at UC Irvine, founding member of the Reeve Irvine Research Center on spinal cord injury, and beloved member of our CIMS and IMSI communities, who died on October 16, 2026.
Kelli was a wonderful colleague and a warm presence in our community. She was an exceptionally interdisciplinary and integrative thinker who had a gift for bringing a room together across disciplines and making every trainee feel like their questions mattered. She will be remembered for her engaging workshops and her active mentoring style. She was thoughtful, kind, generous with her time, and genuinely invested in the success of the people around her.
On a personal note, Kelli was one of the first faculty to welcome me when I joined UCI in 2019, and was among the founding members of our newly proposed center. She and I co-supervised several students together. She challenged students to discover their passion and potential, and always found a way to send a positive message at the right moment.
Kelli embodied all of the best values of our community. Kelli seemed to have boundless energy, and was deeply involved in service, mentorship and leadership across the UCI community and beyond. Her passing leaves a heartbreaking hole in the community.
Kelli’s obituary can be found here and UCI’s full remembrance page for her is here. Her family has asked that donations in her honor be made to Access Mammoth, a nonprofit that creates inclusive mountain sports experiences for people of every age and ability (accessmammoth.org).
If you are struggling with this news, please don’t hesitate to reach out for additional support through campus mental health resources. If you are a member of UCI, please reach out to the Counseling Center here.
Kelli had a wide-reaching network of collaborators and trainees, and we encourage those impacted by her passing to reach out to the IMSI leadership for assistance in identifying additional support through the IMSI community during this difficult time.
Our hearts go out to Kelli’s family, students, and colleagues. We are lucky to have had her in our community, and we will miss her deeply.
With sympathy,
Monica Daley
Director, Center for Integrative Movement Sciences & Integrative Movement Sciences Institute