Rate My Professor Nick Brown

Nicholas R. Brown is a Professor and Pietro F. Pasqua Fellow in the Department of Nuclear Engineering at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville. He joined the University of Tennessee faculty as an associate professor in January 2019 after serving as an assistant professor of nuclear engineering at Pennsylvania State University, where he was named the John J. and Jean M. Brennan Clean Energy Early Career Professor in 2018. Earlier in his career, Brown worked as a scientific staff member at Oak Ridge National Laboratory and Brookhaven National Laboratory. He earned a Ph.D. in Nuclear Engineering with a concentration in Thermal Hydraulics from Purdue University in 2011, a Master of Science in Nuclear Engineering from Purdue University in 2007, and a Bachelor of Science in Nuclear Engineering (Summa Cum Laude) from the University of New Mexico in 2005.

Brown's research specializes in nuclear reactor safety, simulation of reactor and system transients, advanced nuclear fuel and cladding materials, thermal fluid sciences, and advanced nuclear reactor design. He is the author or co-author of more than 200 refereed publications, including over 100 peer-reviewed journal articles and 100 peer-reviewed conference papers or summaries, along with two book chapters. Key publications include "A review of in-pile fuel safety tests of TRISO fuel forms and future testing opportunities in non-HTGR applications" (Journal of Nuclear Materials, 2020) and "Neutronic performance of uranium nitride composite fuels in a PWR" (Nuclear Engineering and Design, 2014). As principal or co-principal investigator, he has secured funding exceeding $20 million across more than 25 awards. His contributions have earned him the American Nuclear Society David Okrent Award for Nuclear Safety (2023), Landis Young Member Engineering Achievement Award (2021), two best paper awards in 2023 for 2022 publications, and inclusion in Stanford University's list of the top 2% most cited researchers for 2021 and 2022. Brown has served as Technical Program Chair for the ANS Annual Meetings in 2023 and 2021.