Prof. David Collard, Chemistry and Biochemistry is to receive the 2009 W. Howard Ector Outstanding Teacher Award. He will receive this honor at the Faculty/Staff Honors Luncheon on April 15th.

Professor Collard obtained his B.Sc. (Hons.) from the University of East Anglia, U.K., in 1983. His Ph.D. thesis (University of Massachusetts, Amherst, 1989, with Prof. C.P. Lillya) described the effects of structure on the formation of discotic liquid crystalline phases. Dr. Collard's research interests are in the area of organic chemistry and the development of new conjugated organic materials and biomaterials. In addition, he has extensive interests in chemical education. He received a Camille and Henry Dreyfus Foundation New Faculty Award, a Lilly Foundation Fellowship, a Research Corporation Cottrell Fellowship, and an NSF-CAREER award. In addition, Professor Collard has received the Amoco Georgia Tech Junior Faculty Excellence in Teaching Award, Georgia Tech's Roane Beard Outstanding Teacher Award, and the Institute's Eichholz Award and Outstanding Doctoral Thesis Advisor Award.

Dr. Collard currently serves as the Associate Chair for Academic Programs in the School of Chemistry an Biochemistry, and co-directs the NSF-sponsored Center for Workshops in the Chemical Sciences.

Biographical information on W. Howard Ector - As a football player at Tech, Howard Ector was an all-SEC quarterback during his junior and senior years. He led Tech to an SEC Championship in 1939, and then to victory over Missouri in the 1940 Orange Bowl. He also played basketball, baseball, was senior class president and a member of ANAK. During World War II, Ector served as an artillery officer in the Guadalcanal campaign. He also flew B-26 bombers and, at the time of his discharge, held the rank of major. He became first executive secretary of the Georgia Tech Foundation in 1947 and, in 1951, served as Alumni Association Executive Director. In 1952, he became the Athletic Association business manager. He began a career in 1959 in the banking industry, serving as vice president of Trust Company Bank and then senior vice president with the Georgia International Life Insurance Company. In addition to the Griffin Community Service Award, he was honored in 1992 with the Marietta Citizen of the Year Award. In 1994, his classmates created the W. Howard Ector Outstanding Classroom-Teacher Award. In an interview for the Georgia Tech Alumni Association, he said, "One of the great blessings of my life has been my friends. I know a lot of people, and I have a lot of friends."