Poplar Bluff native, Duke professor earns teaching award

Lisa Gresham Huettel recently won the 2019 IEEE Undergraduate Teaching Award by connecting with her students, much like her Poplar Bluff High School teachers did with her.

Huettel

This international award, given yearly since 1990, honors a single individual’s inspirational teaching of undergraduate students in IEEE’s fields of interest, including electrical and computer sciences, engineering, and related disciplines. A Duke Engineering faculty member, Huettel is a professor of the practice and director of undergraduate studies in the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering (ECE).

Huettel was selected as this year’s award recipient “for leadership in curriculum development, as well as teaching and mentoring of undergraduate students in electrical and computer engineering,” according to IEEE press release.

“Our signature curriculum aims to immerse students in hands-on engineering from day one, and Dr. Huettel has been instrumental in shaping that unique experience for our students,” said Krishnendu Chakrabarty, the William H. Younger Distinguished Professor and chair of ECE. “The results have been nothing short of transformative. The students are more confident, more engaged, and better prepared for real-world engineering challenges than ever before. We are pleased and proud that her excellence in teaching has been recognized through this very significant award.”

Huettel admits “it feels very good to be recognized for doing something that I love: teaching engineering. After the award was announced, I especially appreciated all of the emails from my former students — I am very proud to have made an impact in their lives.

“My approach is to get to know students as individuals so that I can learn what motivates them,” Huettel said, “I want to connect what I am teaching to what they care about. It is important for students to see why what they are learning matters — and how it connects to real problems. Students learn best when they are curious about how something works, and when their professor can help direct that curiosity toward something that seems important to them. I want each of my students to learn how to think like an engineer.

“I had many wonderful role models that supported me throughout my studies and career,” Huettel said. “At Poplar Bluff High School, Bill Reeves encouraged my interests in math, computer science, and technology, while JoNell Seifert brought me out of my comfort zone and pushed me to develop skills in public speaking and communication. Their support — and that of many other teachers and administrators at PBHS — gave me confidence that I could be successful anywhere!”

Huettel was the valedictorian for the Poplar Bluff High School graduating class of 1990 earning at the time the highest grade-point average of any student, said her father, William B. Gresham III. Gresham, who is a retired local attorney, explained her average was a 4-plus.

While in high school, Huettel was active in drama and was a member of the track team. She competed in the state championship track meet one year. She also attended St. Andrew’s Lutheran Church.

After high school, Huettel chose to study at Harvard University. Her grandfather William B. Gresham Jr. graduated from Harvard in 1937.

Huettel received a BS degree in Engineering Science from Harvard University in 1994. She earned her MS and Ph.D. degrees in electrical engineering from Duke University in 1996 and 1999, respectively.

“I have been on the faculty of electrical and computer engineering at Duke University since 2002, and have served as the ECE Director of Undergraduate Studies for the past eight years,” Huettel said. “We have a wonderful department that not only values world-class research but also prioritizes innovative teaching. I am very grateful to be at a university where I can share my passion for teaching and my enthusiasm for engineering, more generally. I teach both first-year students who are experiencing an engineering course for the first time and advanced students who are taking one of their final classes before graduation. It is wonderful to see how much they grow as thinkers and people throughout their time at Duke.”

Away from work Huettel enjoys spending time with her family.

Her sister Laura, who graduated from PBHS is 1992, is married, has three children, and lives in Ann Harbor, Mich. Her brother William B Gresham IV, a 1996 graduate of PBHS, and his family live in Drury, N.C. “My husband (Scott) and I met as graduate students at Duke — actually, while camping out for Duke basketball tickets,” she said. “We have two wonderful children; they are twins now entering the tween years, which keeps us on our toes. Between work, school, and after-school activities, we stay very busy, but we take every opportunity to travel as a family. This year we’re planning to take the kids to see some of the national parks out west.”