Energy Leader Norris To Present NC State’s Entrepreneurs Lecture

Entrepreneur and energy industry expert John F. Norris Jr. will share his insights and expertise as part of this year’s North Carolina State University Entrepreneurs’ Lecture Series.

Norris will speak at 4:30 p.m. on Monday, April 14, at the McKimmon Center on NC State’s campus. A reception will follow at 5:30 p.m. The event is free and open to the public. To RSVP for the lecture, go to www.ncsu.edu/els.

Norris is president and chief executive officer of Fuel Tech Inc., which consults with energy-related industries worldwide on issues ranging from pollution control to efficiency improvement. In 2007, the company was ranked 12th in the Fortune Small Business list of America’s 100 fastest growing small public companies, and featured on the cover of the July/August issue of the magazine.

Norris attended NC State on a football scholarship and graduated with a bachelor’s degree in nuclear engineering in 1971. After serving 10 years in the U.S. Air Force, he joined Duke Power Company in 1982 – eventually rising to senior vice president of Duke Energy Corporation and chairman and CEO of Duke Energy Global Asset Development in 1998. Norris left Duke Energy in 1999 to serve as president and COO of the American Bureau of Shipping Group before joining American Electric Power (AEP) as senior vice president of operations and technical services, which included responsibility for the operation of all of AEP’s non-nuclear wholesale assets. Norris joined Fuel Tech in 2003, and was named the company’s president and CEO in February 2006.

The Entrepreneurs’ Lecture Series is designed to showcase outstanding innovation and entrepreneurship among NC State alumni and partners. The lecture series is co-sponsored by NC State’s Office of Public Affairs and the Engineering Entrepreneurs Program (EEP). The series was started in 1993 by Dr. Tom Miller, professor of electrical and computer engineering, to help prepare undergraduate engineering students for the world of technology entrepreneurship.

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