MACON — Two Mercer University technical communication faculty members have received national recognitions from the Society for Technical Communication. Dr. George Hayhoe, professor and director of Master of Science in Technical Communication Management Program, earned the 2012 Jay R. Gould Award for Excellence in Teaching Technical Communication, and Dr. Helen Grady, associate professor and director and chair of the Department of Technical Communication, was elected as one of the Society’s fellows.
Dr. Hayhoe is the third member of Mercer’s technical communication faculty to win the Jay Gould Award. His recognition means that all three of the Mercer technical communication faculty who are eligible to receive the award have done so. The award requires at least 15 years of teaching experience.
Dr. Grady’s election to the rank of fellow by the Society for Technical Communication is the highest honor a Society for Technical Communication member can receive. The award is given to associate fellows who have continued to excel in the field of technical communication. The award recognizes Dr. Grady’s achievements as a technical communication practitioner in industry, as a teacher and mentor, and as a scholar, as well as her service to the Society of Technical Communication, the IEEE Professional Communication Society and to Mercer.
“We are very proud to have colleagues like Dr. Hayhoe and Dr. Grady on our faculty,” said Dr. Wade H. Shaw, dean of the School of Engineering. “George and Helen are world-class at what they do and it shows in their teaching, research and service to others. These awards are testimony to their professionalism and the many contributions they bring to Mercer Engineering.”
The Jay Gould Award honors academic mentorship, a record of successful students, involvement in student activities outside of the classroom, creativity in teaching and involvement in research that leads to changes in the way technical communication is taught. The award is named for the late Jay R. Gould, a professor at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute in New York, who was a pioneer in education in technical communication.
Dr. Hayhoe is a fellow of the Society of Technical Communication and served as editor of the Society’s journal, Technical Communication, from 1996 to 2008. He is also a senior member of the Institute for Electrical and Electronics Engineers and IEEE Professional Communication Society, where he previously served as president. Dr. Hayhoe led the People to People professional communication delegation to the People’s Republic of China in 2002.
Dr. Grady is the founder of Mercer’s Center for Excellence in Engineering Education. She is the 2006 recipient of the Jay R. Gould Award and the 2004 recipient of the Vulcan Award for teaching excellence. Dr. Grady is also a 2002 Georgia Governor’s Teaching Fellow. Before joining the Mercer faculty in 1991, she managed a technical publications organization in the aerospace industry in Research Triangle Park, N.C.
About Mercer University
Founded in 1833, Mercer University is a dynamic and comprehensive center of undergraduate, graduate and professional education. The University enrolls more than 8,300 students in 11 schools and colleges – liberal arts, law, pharmacy, medicine, business, engineering, education, theology, music, nursing and continuing and professional studies – on major campuses in Macon, Atlanta and Savannah and at four regional academic centers across the state. Mercer is affiliated with four teaching hospitals — Memorial University Medical Center in Savannah, the Medical Center of Central Georgia in Macon, and The Medical Center and St. Francis Hospital in Columbus — and has educational partnerships with Warner Robins Air Logistics Center in Warner Robins and Piedmont Healthcare in Atlanta. The University operates an academic press and a performing arts center in Macon and an engineering research center in Warner Robins. Mercer is the only private university in Georgia to field an NCAA Division I athletic program. www.mercer.edu
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