College of Engineering alumna Pamela Norris has received the Society of Women Engineers’ Distinguished Engineering Educator award. This award is presented to someone who has made significant contributions to the engineering profession through education.   

Norris received her Ph.D in mechanical engineering from Georgia Tech in 1992. She then went on to pursue a professorship in her home state at the University of Virginia (UVA.) Since becoming the first member of her family to attend college, she has founded two research labs and drawn more than $25 million in grants to UVA, according to a press release by UVA Engineering.

She now holds the title of associate dean of research and graduate programs in the School of Engineering and Applied Science, as well as the Frederick Tracy Morse Professor of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering. During her time at UVA, Norris has founded both the Microscale Heat Transfer Laboratory and the Aerogel Research Laboratory, both of which she currently directs.

Norris is a co-principal investigator for UVA’s National Science Foundation ADVANCE Institutional Transformation Award grant, which is aimed at increasing the participation and advancement of women faculty members in science and engineering, according to a press release by UVA Engineering. She also advises among the top number of students of any research group at UVA. The Distinguished Engineering Educator award further celebrates Norris’ dedication to the cultivation and support of women in engineering.