College of Engineering at NC State Names Outstanding Alumni for 2009

The College of Engineering at North Carolina State University has named the Distinguished Engineering Alumnus award winners for 2009. The recipients are Johnny F. Norris, Jr., president and CEO of Fuel Tech, Inc; Dr. John W. Palmour, chief technology officer of advanced devices for Cree, Inc.; and B.D. Rodgers, chairman of Rodgers Builders, Inc. The awards were presented by Dr. Louis A. Martin-Vega, dean of the College of Engineering, at a banquet held Jan. 28 at the Park Alumni Center on the University’s Centennial Campus. The award honors alumni whose accomplishments further their field and reflect favorably on the university.

Norris graduated from NC State in 1971 with a bachelor’s degree in nuclear engineering. While at NC State, he was on the football team with an athletic scholarship. Following graduation, he served for 10 years in the US Air Force and was twice awarded the Meritorious Service Medal and the Air Force Commendation Medal.

After leaving the Air Force in 1982, he advanced rapidly to top executive positions first with Duke Energy and later with the American Bureau of Shipping Group and American Electric Power. In 2003, based on his expertise gained in turning around and growing major energy and engineering companies, he became a consultant to companies in energy-related businesses.

In 2005 he was contracted as an executive consultant to Fuel Tech, a leading technology company that specializes in air pollution control and efficiency improvements for power plants and industrial combustion units. In 2006 he was hired by Fuel Tech as president and CEO. Under his leadership, the company experienced record-setting growth in revenue and profit in 2006 and 2007, roughly tripling the company’s stock price in 2007.

An active alumnus and member of the Dean’s Circle, he has mentored students, provided summer internships and employment opportunities and served on various advisory committees. He is a life member of the Alumni Association and a member of the Wolfpack and Varsity Clubs. He has also served on numerous non-profit boards.

Palmour received his bachelor’s and doctoral degrees in materials science and engineering from NC State in 1982 and 1988, respectively. He co-founded what became Cree, now one of the premier high-tech companies founded by NC State engineering graduates. The company has 4,000 employees worldwide.

Since Cree’s founding, Palmour has served as executive vice president of advanced devices, responsible for all aspects of Cree’s wide band gap RF, microwave and power switching device businesses, and as director of advanced devices, managing all of the research and development programs that focused on wide band gap RF, microwave and power devices. He has served as a member of the board of directors of Cree since October 1995, and has served as its chief technology officer of advanced devices since September 2008. During his career, he has authored or co-authored more than 266 publications and is a co-inventor on 46 US patents and 135 corresponding foreign patents.

An active alumnus, Palmour has played a significant role in driving research collaborations with NC State engineering faculty and students and has provided generous support for the College and University. He is a member of the University’s Leonidas Lafayette Polk Society, and he has endowed the Hayne Palmour III Scholarship in honor of his father, a longtime NC State ceramic engineering professor.

Rodgers received his bachelor’s degree in civil engineering from NC State in 1949. Beginning in 1963 with one truck, a superintendent and $5,000 borrowed from his life insurance policy, he built Rodgers Builders into a highly successful construction company that was named the 2007 Carolinas AGC “Best of the Best in the Carolinas Construction Industry.” Rodgers Builders was ranked 47th among the Top 100 construction managers in the nation in 2008 by Engineering News-Record magazine.

Rodgers is a leader in his business, his community and his state, having served on the boards of the Presbyterian Home at Charlotte, the NC State Engineering Foundation, the College of Design at NC State, and as the Building Division Chair of the Carolinas Associated General Contractors. He currently serves on the Florence Crittenton Services Board of Advisors, the Alexander Children’s Center Board of Visitors, and the Brevard College Board of Trustees. His many honors include receiving the Golden Hammer Award from the Professional Construction Estimators Association and the 2000 Executive of the Year Award from the Construction Financial Managers Association.

Rodgers is a generous supporter of NC State and the College of Engineering, endowing the B.D. and Patricia Rodgers Scholarship and the Rodgers Builders Student Travel Fund for the Department of Civil, Construction, and Environmental Engineering. He is a member of the Leonidas Lafayette Polk Society, which recognizes lifetime gift support to the university.