Distinguished Alumnus and Donor Nancy Cole
Nancy Cole poses with her father at the
College of Engineering's 2006-2007 Honors Banquet
after receiving the Nathan W. Dougherty Award, the
college's most prestigious honor.
Nancy Cole received her B.S. and M.S. in metallurgical engineering in1963 and 1988, respectively. She was the first female to graduate from UT in metallurgical engineering and the first female to graduate from the UT Engineering Co-op program.
She began her career at Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) doing research on the corrosion of metals. After the birth of her first son, she joined ORNL's Welding and Brazing Laboratory where she researched the joining of stainless steels, refractory metals and ceramics. When her husband was awarded a promotion with his company, they moved to Chattanooga, where she worked for Combustion Engineering (CE) for 17 years.
In 1991 she returned to ORNL as Manager of Fossil Energy Materials where she managed programs for the Department of Energy that involved national laboratories, universities and industry.
Mrs. Cole's professional career has taken her through many engineering experiences: 11 years in research and development and 17 years in fabrication, non-destructive evaluation and repair, both in the shop and in the field. She helped develop welding electrodes, submerged arc fluxes and flux cored wire and wrote the computer program used in that work. Those welding products were fabricated for use by CE and its affiliates to build and repair components for the power industry. More recently, she formed her own company to provide technical assistance with joining techniques and procedures.
Mrs. Cole was one of the first women to become active in the American Welding Society (AWS). Since the early 1970s she has presented papers, published and helped organize and chair sessions at professional conferences of AWS, ASM International and The Metallurgical Society (TMS). Through AWS and the Welding Research Council, she is known internationally for her pioneering work on corrosion resistance of brazed joints. She is also involved with writing standards internationally and has participated in selected ISO meetings abroad. She served ABET by participating in accreditation audits of a variety of materials-related engineering programs of several universities. She was also a member of UT's College of Engineering's Board of Advisors from the late 1980s to early 1990s.
Mrs. Cole became a Fellow of the American Welding Society in 1999 and an Honorary Member in 2006. She has won several awards, including one for the best contribution to the progress of brazing and another for a significant contribution in the field of welding. She has over 35 technical publications and holds three patents. She is currently on the AWS Board of Directors and serves as Chair of the Fellows Committee. Mrs. Cole is a registered Professional Engineer in the state of Tennessee.
In 2007, Mrs. Cole was named the first female recipient of the Dougherty Award, which is the COE's most prestigious honor. It is named after Nathan W. Dougherty, COE Dean from 1916-1956.
Mrs. Cole and her husband, Leon Cole, established the Nancy and Leon Cole Outstanding Teacher Award, which UT has given annually for over 20 years. They are parents of Douglas and Andrew and have four grandchildren, Aaron, Jacob, Elizabeth and Alexandra.