Champaign campus because their admission was advocated by political officials, trustees, alumni and others.
"As a member of the Admissions Review Commission, you did an exemplary job," Quinn told Estrada. "We're really counting on you to help make sure our university is the best it can be."
Holmes, a lawyer with the firm of Schiff Hardin, earned her bachelor's and law degrees from the Urbana campus.
"In her DNA, she cares about this institution," Quinn said at the board meeting.
A former federal, state and local prosecutor and state court judge, Holmes is a trial lawyer whose practice includes corporate and criminal internal investigations.
She has handled cases involving financial and accounting fraud, mail and wire fraud, corporate whistle-blower allegations, contract disputes and other complex commercial litigation.
She was appointed by Quinn to chair the Illinois Torture Inquiry and Relief Commission, which investigates claims of police torture and makes recommendations to trial court.
Other investigations she has led include allegations of sexual harassment and subsequent cover-up involving then-Chicago fire commissioner John Brooks, and the Burr Oak Cemetery scandal, where it was discovered that workers were improperly disposing of bodies.
She was appointed by Quinn to chair the Cemetery Oversight Task Force, which made recommendations that led to new legislation on cemetery oversight and the funeral industry.