Arthur Geoffrey Norman was born in Birmingham, England, November 26, 1905. He received a bachelor of science degree from the University of Birmingham in 1925. In 1928 he received a doctorate in biochemistry from the same institution. After serving for two years as a scientist at the Rothamsted Experimental Station, Norman came to the United States in 1930 as a Rockefeller Fellow at the University of Wisconsin. In 1932 he returned to England as the biochemist in charge of the biochemical section of the Rothamsted Experimental Station. In 1933 he received a second doctorate from the University of London.
In 1937 Norman left Rothamsted to become professor of soils at Iowa State University. During World War II he served in the US Army Chemical Corp., which led to his appointment in 1946 as biochemist and division chief of the Army's biological laboratories at Fort Detrick, Maryland. In 1952 Norman came to Ann Arbor, as professor of botany. Norman's interest in the University of Michigan was the result of a promise that he would head a plant nutrition project funded by a gift from the Ford Motor Company to the Michigan Memorial Phoenix Project. In 1955 Norman added to this responsibility the directorship of the university's botanical gardens.
In 1964 Norman was appointed vice-president for research. He retired from this post in 1972, although he continued to serve in other university positions well after this date. A. Geoffrey Norman died in 1982.
From the guide to the Arthur Geoffrey Norman Papers, 1947-1972, (Bentley Historical Library University of Michigan)
