Awards, Faculty and Staff

Dr. George Blakey recipient of prestigious teaching award

Dr. George Blakey, a Clinical Assistant Professor in the department of oral and maxillofacial surgery at the UNC School of Dentistry, is the 2004 recipient of the Richard F. Hunt Memorial Award for Excellence in Pre-Doctoral Teaching.

Blakey, who is also a diplomat of the American Board of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery, was awarded the honor at the 2004 Spurgeon Banquet in March.

The Hunt Memorial Award is considered the most prestigious teaching award at the School of Dentistry and carries a cash prize of $1,500.

Recipients of the Hunt Memorial Award are nominated and selected entirely by students. The recipient of the award is known for fostering intellect, demonstrating competence and perspective in all aspects of dentistry and respecting patients and students. Blakey is the thirty-sixth recipient of the award.

An excerpt from student nominations read, “Dr. Blakey continually shows enthusiasm for teaching in both the undergraduate and graduate clinics. He continually shows excellence by helping student after hours and before class. He shows how much he cares by doing surgery procedures for students, sometimes free of charge, and he shows excellence in all he does.”

The Hunt Memorial Award honors the memory of Dr. Richard F. Hunt, a member of the Dental School Class of ’55, who died in a plane crash in 1968. The award was established more than three decades ago with gifts from the Loblolly Study Club to the Dental Foundation of North Carolina.