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<\/a>David Ellison<\/strong><\/p><\/div>\n Greenville native David Ellison ’72 was presented with the Gordon L. Blackwell Alumni Service Award, which honors an individual who has dedicated extraordinary service to Furman University and the greater community. A member of Furman\u2019s Board of Trustees and Chair from 1998\u20132000, Ellison has served as past president of the Furman Alumni Association, the Paladin Club, and the Quaternion Club.\u00a0 He has served on the Because Furman Matters Campaign Advisory Board, Forever Furman Campaign Executive Committee, the President\u2019s Advisory Council, and the Planned Giving Advisory Council.<\/p>\n Ellison was also honored for his distinguished leadership in the Greenville community. As a former trustee of the United Way of Greenville County, he has chaired the leadership giving arms of the Palmetto Society and the Tocqueville Society. He is past chair of the YMCA Endowment Corporation, served as the Commissioner of the Greenville Housing Authority, and is a graduate of Leadership Greenville and the South Carolina Diversity Leaders Initiative of the Riley Institute. He currently serves on the boards of both Southern First Bank and the Greenville Country Club.<\/p>\n Frances Ligler<\/strong><\/p><\/div>\n Frances Ligler ’73 received the Carl F. Kohrt Distinguished Alumni Award, which is awarded annually in recognition of significant professional or personal accomplishments and in gratitude for continued loyalty to Furman University.<\/p>\n A former member of Furman\u2019s Board of Trustees, Ligler is a pioneer and world leader in the fields of biosensors and microfluidics. She currently serves as the Lampe Distinguished Professor of Biomedical Engineering in the Joint North Carolina State\/University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill Department of Biomedical Engineering. Prior to assuming this role, she served for 28 years at the United States Naval Research Laboratory in Washington, D.C., the last 18 years of which she served as Senior Scientist for Biosensors and Biomaterials. Ligler has authored over 400 full-length publications and patents that have been cited over 13,000 times and have led to 11 commercial biosensor products. She is an elected Fellow of the American Institute for Medical and Biological Engineering, the International Society for Optical Engineering, and the American Association for the Advancement of Science. In 2003, she was awarded the Homeland Security Award by the Christopher Columbus Foundation and the Presidential Rank of Distinguished Senior Professional by President Bush. In 2012, she was awarded the Presidential Rank of Meritorious Senior Professional by President Obama and in 2014, she was awarded an honorary doctorate from the Agricultural University of Athens, Greece.<\/p>\n<\/a>