Biography

Debra Hess Norris (she/her) is chair of the Department of Art Conservation at the University of Delaware, a position she has held since 2000. She is also the Unidel Henry Francis du Pont Chair of Fine Arts and professor of photograph conservation. She served for more than 25 years as director of the Winterthur/UD Program in Art Conservation (WUDPAC). She earned an interdisciplinary B.A., magna cum laude, in chemistry, art history and studio art (1977) and an M.S. in conservation (1980) from UD.

An internationally recognized leader in photograph conservation, Norris has authored more than 45 articles and book chapters and taught more than 165 workshops and seminars in over 40 countries on photograph preservation, emergency response, ethics and conservation education. With Jennifer Jae Gutierrez, she co-edited Issues in the Conservation of Photographs (Getty Conservation Institute, 2010); with Nora W. Kennedy and Bertrand Lavédrine, she co-edited The Conservation of Photographic Collections: Significance, Use and Care (Routledge, 2025), an international collaboration involving more than 100 authors. She has also delivered hundreds of lectures, keynote addresses and public programs worldwide.

Norris has secured more than $34 million in grants and gifts to support conservation education, graduate students, research and the preservation of collections. Her international work includes co-leading the Middle East Photograph Preservation Initiative (MEPPI); helping establish the Iraqi Institute for the Conservation of Antiquities and Heritage in Erbil; launching photograph preservation training in sub-Saharan Africa; and partnering extensively with APOYOnline on training throughout Latin America and the Caribbean. She has also led initiatives in emergency preparedness and response, including preservation training in Puerto Rico following Hurricane Maria.

Norris has held extensive leadership roles at the University of Delaware, including interim dean of the College of Arts and Sciences (2023–2025), vice provost for graduate and professional education (2008–2010) and multiple associate and interim associate dean positions spanning graduate education, the arts, humanities and social sciences. She co-chaired UD’s Path to Prominence strategic planning process, served on the planning committee for Delaware Will Shine and participated in the University’s Middle States accreditation process. She currently serves on the University of Delaware Board of Trustees.

Nationally and internationally, Norris served as president of the American Institute for Conservation of Historic and Artistic Works (AIC) from 1993 to 1997, chair of Heritage Preservation from 2003 to 2008, a U.S. commissioner to UNESCO and project director for the Mellon Foundation Collaborative Workshops in Photograph Conservation. She currently serves on the boards of trustees of the University of Delaware and Winterthur Museum, Garden and Library; is chair of the Board of the Conservation Center for Art and Historic Artifacts (CCAHA); and serves on the boards of the Foundation for Advancement in Conservation (FAIC) and Alliance for HBCU Museums and Galleries. She also serves on the NYU Abu Dhabi External Research Council, Visiting Committee for the Department of Photographs at The Metropolitan Museum of Art and Editorial Board of OurWorldHeritage. Her broader service has included the HBCU Library Alliance Board, ICOM-CC FUND Board and numerous national and international advisory, scientific and planning committees.

Norris’s honors include the AIC Rutherford John Gettens Merit Award (1998); University of Delaware Alumni Wall of Fame (2002); AIC Sheldon and Caroline Keck Award (2004); AIC University Products Award (2008); College Art Association/AIC Award for Distinction in Scholarship and Conservation (2016); and designation as a University of Delaware Francis Alison Scholar, the University’s highest faculty honor (2018). In 2024, she became the first conservator to receive the Foundation for Advancement in Conservation’s Forbes Medal for distinguished contributions to conservation and cultural heritage preservation. She received the APOYOnline President’s Award in 2025 and was elected an Honorary Member of the American Institute for Conservation in 2026, among the organization’s highest distinctions.

Across her teaching, scholarship, fundraising, professional leadership and international service, Norris has focused on strengthening conservation education, expanding opportunities for emerging professionals and advocating for the preservation of photographs and cultural heritage as essential carriers of memory, history and human connection.

TEDx Talks and Websites

ARTC Chair Debra Hess Norris presented her first TEDx talk at an event held at the University of Delaware in 2018, where she discussed the role of photo conservation in preserving cultural memory. Inspired by a TEDx talk presented at the 2019 AIC-PMG meeting on outreach, advocacy and fundraising, Norris and Annabelle Camp (WUDPAC Class of 2022) created www.photographpreservation.org as a repository of resources and inspiration for conservation professionals.