Lisa W. Holstein died of brain cancer on June 23, 2021, at age 66. 

Holstein earned her doctorate in mass communications at IU. Her dissertation, under professor emerita Chris Ogan, was on changing U.S. media images of China and the U.S.S.R. at the end of the Cold War. In subsequent work, she co-authored, with associate professor emerita S. Holly Stocking, theoretical and empirical work on media coverage of scientific ignorance, which helped to lay the foundation for the now internationally recognized area of Ignorance Studies. 

Holstein is survived by her husband of almost 48 years.