Dr. Helen Grady, professor emerita in Mercer University School of Engineering, has been named the recipient of the 2023 Ronald S. Blicq Award for Distinction in Technical Communication Education by the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) Professional Communication Society (PCS).

The international award, presented since 2001, recognizes innovative educators who have influenced the ways that technical communication is taught in pre-college settings, undergraduate and graduate university degree programs, and in professional life through workshops and seminars.

It will be presented to Dr. Grady at the IEEE ProComm conference July 17-20 at Cornell University in Ithaca, New York.

Dr. Grady taught 30 different technical communication and engineering courses during her 29-year tenure at Mercer. She was instrumental in shaping the technical communication undergraduate and graduate curricula and created nine new undergraduate and two new graduate courses. She also helped design the School of Engineering’s Master of Science in Technical Communication Management, which is offered fully online.

“Dr. Grady’s effect on students at Mercer and beyond has been profound,” said Dr. Laura Lackey, dean of the School of Engineering. “It is notable that, in helping design the online M.S. in Technical Communication Management at Mercer — in the days before remote education became pervasive — she helped found a program of excellence that has withstood the test of time and is acclaimed nationally.”

Dr. Grady also played a pivotal role in restructuring the engineering core curriculum, resulting in a two- sequence course in professional communication for all students in the School of Engineering. In addition, she founded and directed the Center for Excellence in Engineering Education to assist faculty in enhancing teaching scholarship and web-based instruction.

During her tenure at Mercer, Dr. Grady was invited to teach several classes at the University of Applied Sciences in Karlsruhe, Germany.

She is a Society for Technical Communication (STC) Fellow, recipient of the STC Jay R. Gould Award for Excellence in Teaching Technical Communication, two-time recipient of the IEEE PCS Emily K. Schlesinger Award for Outstanding Service to the Professional Communication Society, winner of Mercer's Vulcan Innovations in Teaching Award, and a Georgia Governor’s Teaching Fellow.

She currently serves as a technical adviser to the Mercer Engineering Research Center.