Pan received a Master of Science and Ph.D. in Textile Engineering in China before working at UC Davis
By ROBIN FRANKLIN — campus@theaggie.org
UC Davis Distinguished Professor Emeritus Ning Pan, known for his contributions in textile engineering, passed away on Sept. 7. Pan’s research included work on advancing the engineering of fibrous materials and the applications of nanotechnology in energy storage. He was 72 years old.
Pan joined UC Davis in 1990 and started teaching as a full-time professor in 1999. He was an active faculty member in both the Department of Biological and Agricultural Engineering (BAE), where he ended his career, and within the now-discontinued Textile and Clothing major. He retired from teaching in 2021.
According to his department, Pan’s death was related to ongoing health issues.
In a statement sent to members of the campus community, UC Davis BAE Chair and Professor Fadi Fathallah recognized his contributions and service to the university.
“Professor Pan was deeply respected as a teacher, mentor and colleague, guiding generations of students with dedication and kindness,” Fathallah said. “His scientific achievements and personal impact will continue to influence the field for years to come.”
Pan was born in Xining, China in 1953. He earned his Master of Science in Textile Engineering from Donghua University in Shanghai, China and later earned his Ph.D. there in 1985. He was the first individual to earn a doctorate degree in that field in the country, according to his longtime colleague and friend Professor Gang Sun. Pan went on to be a visiting scholar at San Francisco State in 1988 and a postdoctoral associate at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) in 1990.
One of his most influential contributions in the textiles sector was his invention of the PhabrOmeter, a device for measuring drape and wrinkle resistance in materials. A copy of the device — which is now widely used in the industry — can be found in Pan’s former lab in Everson Hall. Alongside his wife, Linda Huang, Pan founded the company Nu Cybertek Inc., which uses the PhabrOmeter to measure fabric quality, according to startup news site Grit Daily.
Throughout his life, Professor Pan published more than 200 scholarly papers and was cited in peer-reviewed papers 7,533 times, per his UC Davis faculty page.
Pan’s work resulted in several awards for his research; he was selected as a Fellow of the Textile Institute and the American Society of Mechanical Engineers. He was also honored with the NASA Tech Briefs Nano 50 Award and holds an honorary doctorate from the Technical University of Liberec in the Czech Republic.
Aside from his wife, Pan was survived by his daughter, Katherine Pan. His family could not be reached for comment in time for publication.
Written by: Robin Franklin — campus@theaggie.org
