Cartee and Townsend receive Blessis Outstanding Undergraduate Advisor Award

Dr. Lianne Cartee and Cecilia Townsend are the winners of this year’s George H. Blessis Outstanding Undergraduate Advisor Award, given by the College of Engineering at North Carolina State University.

Cartee is an associate professor and director of undergraduate programs in the Joint NC State/UNC Department of Biomedical Engineering. Townsend is a senior lecturer and coordinator of undergraduate advising in the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering.

The award recognizes faculty members who consistently and willingly give their time and effort to advising, counseling and mentoring students and assisting student groups. It is also a continuing memorial to George H. Blessis, a faculty member whose interest in undergraduate education and advising serves as an example today.

Candidates are nominated by departments and selected by the College of Engineering Teaching and Advising Awards Committee. The awardee receives $1,000 and a certificate and the recipient’s name is engraved on a permanent plaque displayed in Page Hall, the administrative building for the College of Engineering.

Cartee joined the faculty of the Joint NC State/UNC Department of Biomedical Engineering in 2005. She is a recipient of the College of Engineering Outstanding Teacher Award, a previous winner of the George Blessis Advising Award, and a Park Faculty Scholar.

Her current research focuses on electrophysiology and its application to cochlear implants. She received a BS and an MS in biological engineering from Mississippi State University and a PhD in biomedical engineering from Duke University.

Townsend is the recipient of the Barbara Soloman Advising Award (2006), the George Blessis Outstanding Advising Award (1999 and 2006), and the IEEE Outstanding Teacher Award (1990).

She received a BS in electrical engineering from the University of Missouri-Rolla, an MS in electrical engineering from the University of Kansas, and an MBA from Avila College.