B.S. Mechanical Engineering and Mechanics, Old Dominion University, 1987M.S. Mechanical Engineering, Georgia Institute of Technology, 1989Ph.D Mechanical Engineering, Georgia Institute of Technology, 1992Visiting Postdoctoral Research Engineer and Visiting Lecturer, University of California, Berkeley, Mechanical Engineering, 1993-1994
"Developing a fundamental understanding of energy transport at the nanoscale, knowledge required to engineer materials to minimize energy consumption."
Pamela Marie Norris, Frederick Tracy Morse Professor Emeritus
After receiving her PhD from Ga Tech in 1992 and completing post-doctoral studies at UC Berkeley with Chang-Lin Tien, Pamela Norris joined the faculty at UVA in 1994, where she founded both the Nanoscale Energy Transfer Lab and the Aerogel Research Lab. Today, she is recognized globally as a leading expert in both research fields. She routinely chairs, and speaks at, international conferences on those subjects and has published over 100 heavily cited refereed journal papers. She holds patents for applications of aerogels in areas ranging from biological warfare detection, to lab-on-a-chip, to thermal insulation, along with patents for innovative thermal management techniques for jet-blast deflectors. She has served as the PI or Co-PI on over 45 sponsored research projects representing well over $25M from DOD, NSF, Industry and Foundations. She has supervised a few undergraduate theses each year and has advised 24 doctoral students, 26 master’s degree students, and many research assistants.
Pam is well-known for her mentoring skills and for her dedication to increasing the representation and retention of women faculty in the STEM disciplines, having served as the Director of UVA’s NSF ADVANCE Institutional Transformation program. In 2016 she was honored with the Society of Women Engineers Distinguished Engineering Educator Award “for enduring, positive influence on students’ lives as a gifted teacher, mentor, and role model; and for promoting greater diversity in STEM higher education” as well as the UVA Zintl Leadership award honoring “Excellence in work that makes a direct and significant impact on the core academic enterprise of the University and an unusually high degree of service to the University, within and beyond the expectations of the woman’s position description.” She was also the 2018 recipient of the Raven Award, which recognizes two faculty per year for their “excellence in service and contribution to the University,” the highest honor the Raven Society bestows upon an individual.
Awards
Recipient of the 2018 Raven Award2018
Recipient of the Society of Women Engineers Distinguished Engineering Educator Award2016
Recipient of the UVA Zintl Leadership Award2016
Recipient of the SEAS Distinguished Faculty Award2015
Named the Frederick Tracy Morse Professor in Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering2010
Finalist in the 2008 National Security Science and Engineering Faculty Fellowship (NSSEFF) Program
Elected Fellow of ASME2005
Recipient of the Undergraduate Research Network Faculty Award for Mentorship2006 and 2007
Recipient of the Georgia Tech Outstanding Young Engineering Alumni Award1996
Executive Associate Dean for Research at UVA’s School of Engineering and Applied Science, Pamela Norris, speaks at the 2016 Future Forum on the impact of UVA research on the local economy.
Norris' Unamimous Election Honors a Lifetime of Distinguished Achievement
Norris earned the prestigious award for her international leadership in research, dedication to diversity and excellence in mentoring future engineers.
In her new role, dean Norris plans to offer an outlet that brings together disparate fields focused on advancing discoveries in nanoscale and microscale energy and mass transport.
Pamela Norris presents both current and historical data on the participation of women and underrepresented minorities in engineering and computer science in the United States. She makes the case for the value of diversity.
UVA Engineering Executive Dean Pamela M. Norris, a nationally recognized leader in diversity in science, technology, engineering and mathematics in higher education, asks one thing of Class of 2020 graduates.
Strategic Approach Leads to Double-Digit Increases in Sponsored Research Funding
UVA Engineering’s focus on bold research in areas of societal need is earning results: Sponsored research funding increased by 74 percent between fiscal years 2016 and 2018.
UVA Engineering Leader Earns National Recognition for Advancing Women in Engineering
Pamela Norris, the Frederick Tracy Morse Professor of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering and executive associate dean for research, has earned a national award for her efforts...
Professor Makes a Difference in the Lives of Soldiers, Students and Colleagues
Professor Pamela Norris' outstanding record of research, teaching and service led the new School of Engineering Dean, Craig Benson, to promote her to Executive Associate Dean...
Effects of temperature and disorder on thermal boundary conductance at solid–solid interfaces: Nonequilibrium molecular dynamics simulations. International Journal of Heat and Mass Transfer 50 (19), 3977-3989. ABSRJ Stevens, LV Zhigilei, PM Norris
Measurement of thermal boundary conductance of a series of metal-dielectric interfaces by the transient thermoreflectance technique. Journal of Heat Transfer 127(3), 315-322 (Mar 24, 2005) (8 pages)doi:10.1115/1.1857944 RJ Stevens, AN Smith, PM Norris
Femtosecond pump–probe nondestructive examination of materials. Review of Scientific Instruments 74 (1), 400-406 ABSPM Norris, AP Caffrey, RJ Stevens, JM Klopf, JT McLeskey Jr, AN Smith
Enhancing and tuning phonon transport at vibrationally mismatched solid-solid interfaces. Physical Review B 85 (3), 035438. ABSTS English, JC Duda, JL Smoyer, DA Jordan, PM Norris, LV Zhigilei
Influence of inelastic scattering at metal-dielectric interfaces. Journal of Heat Transfer 130 (2), 022401. ABSPE Hopkins, PM Norris, RJ Stevens
