Professor Brian Norton
In September 2003, Professor Brian Norton became President of Dublin Institute of Technology (DIT). DIT is one of Ireland’s largest and most diverse higher education institutions. Previously, Professor Norton was Dean of Engineering and Built Environment at University of Ulster from 1996, having served as Professor of Built-Environmental Engineering at University of Ulster since 1989. He has very extensive international links and over €10 million in grants principally for solar energy research. Author or co-author of five advanced texts and over 350 papers including over 170 in major international learned journals. He has supervised forty doctorates. He serves as Associate Editor of “Solar Energy” - the premier international journal in the field and serves on three other editorial boards. He is currently President of the Solar Energy Society of Ireland.
Professor Norton has chaired the World Renewable Energy Network, the BSI Technical Committee on Solar Heating, the Eco-Energy Trust and, still chairs Action Renewables. He served on the Board of the UK Building Research Establishment. He has been a ministerial appointee to the Construction Industry Training Board and has chaired its Audit Committee. He was a member of the Built Environment Panel for the 2001 UK National Universities Research Assessment Exercise and Chaired the Northern Ireland Business Education Partnership. In 2001/02 he acted as Specialist Advisor to the Enterprise, Trade and Investment Committee of the Northern Ireland Assembly. He currently is a member of a group overseeing the implementation of the Irish National Strategy for Science, Technology and Innovation. He is a member of the International Panel reviewing all energy research in the UK. He also serves on the Council of the Irish Academy of Engineering. He is a member of the Council of Dublin Chamber of Commerce and of the Audit Committee of Dublin City Council.
He has a BSc (Hons) in Physics from University of Nottingham and MSc and PhD degrees, in Engineering Experimentation and Applied Energy respectively, from Cranfield University and DSc from the University of Nottingham. He is a Fellow of the Energy Institute, the Institution of Engineers of Ireland and Higher Education Academy, and a Chartered Engineer (both in Ireland and the UK). Among his awards are the Napier Shaw Medal of the Chartered Institute of Building Services Engineers and the Roscoe Award of the Institute of Energy. He is an Honorary Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Building Services Engineers and a Fellow of the Irish Academy of Engineering. He is an Honorary Professor of both the University of Ulster and Harbin Institute of Technology, China.
