About Dr. David C. Leonard
 The
David C. Leonard Scholarship for Technical Communication is named in honor of Dr. David C.
Leonard, who passed away on March 4, 2002. During his career,
Dr. Leonard worked as both a consultant and an educator. His
company, IDC Information Design Corporation, provided consulting
services to over 100 Fortune 500 and other companies. He worked
on the cutting-edge of technology and helped advance the role of
the technical communicator from documentation into product
usability and education.
As an educator, Dr. Leonard taught at the University of
Maryland (74-79), Georgia Institute of Technology (79-84),
University of Tennessee-Chattanooga (84-86), and Mercer
University (93-02). At Mercer, Dr. Leonard was Assistant Dean
and Director of Engineering Graduate Programs. He was a frequent
and dynamic speaker at conferences for over 20 years. His
insight into industry trends had him working with online help,
usability testing, knowledge bases, and distance-learning before
most technical communicators had heard of the concepts.
Dr. Leonard was instrumental in revitalizing the STC Atlanta
Chapter, serving as President from 1980-81 and 1992-93.
As an innovative technical communicator and dedicated
teacher, Dr. David C. Leonard represents the ideals of the STC
Atlanta Chapter scholarship.
Following is an excerpt from an e-mail from Dr. Leonard:
I have learned a great deal from this cancer experience, some
of which I look forward to sharing with you.
For me, given this new perspective, I have learned...
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Lifelong learning isn't as long
as you think, so use the time wisely.
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We are in God's hands.
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We are to do something with our
lives that is a help to others.
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Our lives and our relationships
are precious.
The STC Atlanta Chapter believes that helping a student get
started in technical communication is an appropriate way to
honor Dr. David C. Leonard, who dedicated his life to our
profession and helping students prepare for the future.
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