Debra Hess Norris

As Director of the Winterthur/UD Program in Art Conservation (WUDPAC) for 25+ years, Debra Hess Norris has authored 45 articles/ book chapters on photographic materials preservation, and has led preservation initiatives and 165+ workshops worldwide from China to Cuba while securing $34 million in support for conservation education and collections preservation globally. With Jennifer Jae Gutierrez, she co-edited, Issues in the Conservation of Photographs (2010).S he is a co-editor for the Routledge publication, Conservation of Photographs: Significance, Use and Care (2025). Norris was chair of Heritage Preservation (2003- 2008) and president of the American Institute for Conservation (AIC) (1993-97). Norris co-led the Middle East Photograph Preservation Initiative and helped to establish the Iraqi Institute for the Conservation of Antiquities and Heritage in Iraq. She has worked with APOYOnline to develop preservation workshops across Latin America. 

In 2002, Norris was inducted into UD’s Alumni Wall of Fame. She has received the AIC Rutherford John Gettens Merit Award for outstanding service (1998), the Sheldon and Caroline Keck Award for excellence in the education of conservation professionals (2004), the AIC University Products Award for distinguished achievement in conservation (2008), and the College Art Association/AIC Award for Distinction in Scholarship and Conservation (2016). In 2018, Norris was named a Francis Alison Scholar, UD’s highest faculty honor. In 2024 she received the FAIC Forbes Medal for distinguished contributions to conservation internationally and in 2025 the President’s Award from AOPYOnline. She has served in many academic leadership positions, including interim Dean for the College of Arts and Sciences. Norris received her MS in Conservation from WUDPAC and an undergraduate degree in chemistry, art history, and art from her beloved UD. 

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