is the Sherman Fairchild Conservator of Photographs at The Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City where she established a lab devoted to the conservation of photographs. During her tenure at the Met she has worked on over ninety photography exhibitions and continues to expand the Museum’s initiatives in education and research.
Kennedy also serves on the adjunct faculty of the New York University Institute of Fine Arts Conservation Center.
Kennedy received her BFA from York University in Toronto, and her Master of Science degree in conservation from the University of Delaware / Winterthur  Museum art conservation program in 1986.
In 2003 the University awarded her a Presidential Citation for Outstanding Achievement and in 2006 she was awarded the American Institute for Conservation’s Sheldon and Caroline Keck Award recognizing a sustained record of excellence in the education and training of conservation professionals.
She is the 2011 recipient of the HP Image Permanence Award for her work with the Mellon Collaborative Workshops in Photograph Conservation, the development of the Digital Sample Sets, as well as her contributions to the establishment of the Photograph Information Record.

Debra Hess Norris is Chair of the Art Conservation Department, Director of the Winterthur/University of Delaware Program in Art Conservation and Professor of Photograph Conservation at the University of Delaware. Since 1985, Norris has authored more than 45 publications on care and treatment of photographic materials, emergency response, ethics, and conservation education; and taught more than135 workshops and seminars for conservators and allied professionals globally– across North America and Europe and in the Middle East, in South America, Asia and Africa.

As chair, Norris has raised more than $19 million dollars to support preservation initiatives worldwide. She has co-led the Middle East Photograph Preservation Initiative (MEPPI) with the Arab Image Foundation, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, and the Getty Conservation Institute. Norris helped to develop and implement the Iraqi Institute for the Conservation of Antiquities and Heritage in Erbil, Iraq; where more than 200 Iraqi heritage professionals have been trained in basic preservation techniques.

Norris co-edited with Jennifer Jae Gutierrez – Issues in the Conservation of Photographs – published by the Getty Conservation Institute in 2010.

She was the chair of Heritage Preservation (2003- 2008) and president of the American Institute for the Conservation of Historic and Artistic Works (AIC) (1993-97). She has served as president of the Conservation Center for Art and Historic Artifacts Board (CCAHA), US commissioner to UNESCO, and project director of The Andrew W. Mellon Collaborative Workshops in Photograph Conservation.

In 2002, Norris was inducted into the University of Delaware’s Alumni Wall of Fame. Norris received the Rutherford John Gettens Merit Award for outstanding service to the AIC (1998), the Sheldon and Caroline Keck Award for excellence in the education and training of conservation professionals (2004), and the AIC University Products Award for distinguished achievement in the conservation of cultural property (2008) and the College Art Association/ AIC Award for Distinction in Scholarship and Conservation (2016).

Translated into Arabic and produced by the Arab Image Foundation (AIF) with the permission of Heritage Preservation, 2010.

The Emergency Response and Salvage Wheel, produced by US-based Heritage Preservation, is a tool outlining procedures for reacting to natural and man-made disasters, such as floods, hurricanes and fires. The tool lists the crucial steps to be taken to safeguard photographic collections in addition to many other cultural artefacts ranging from framed artworks, ceramics and stone objects to books, textiles, natural history specimens and electronic records.

The wheel can be ordered by contacting [email protected].

ABSTRACT – There exist hidden treasures in the Eastern Mediterranean, largely unrecognized and cared for by an enlightened few. These treasures are not the artifacts, monuments and architectural wonders that normally come to mind when pondering the incredibly rich and long cultural history of the region, but photographs dating from the early history of the medium to the present day that are the undervalued record of times past, documentation of social, political and cultural history and the expression of past and present societies. In 2006 the Arab Image Foundation (AIF) and two photograph conservators from the United States began a collaboration that ultimately led to a successful two-week Middle East Photograph Preservation Institute (MEPPI), supported by funding from the Getty and the Andrew W. Mellon Foundations. Fourteen individuals from five Middle Eastern countries participated in this unprecedented and highly successful workshop. This has served as a springboard to launch a range of initiatives aimed at the preservation of photographic heritage in the region. It is clear that the AIF role is critical, but it must also be supported and augmented by collaboration and participation from other individuals and institutions with similar aims. Initiatives must be produced at all levels to raise awareness, educate, train and prepare the next generation to care for, appreciate and utilize this invaluable resource.