Sir Ronald Norman, (born 29 April 1937) is a British businessman and author. Sir Ron received an OBE in 1986 for services to urban regeneration in

Newcastle Newcastle usually refers to: *Newcastle upon Tyne, a city and metropolitan borough in Tyne and Wear, England, United Kingdom *Newcastle-under-Lyme, a town in Staffordshire, England, United Kingdom *Newcastle, New South Wales, a metropolitan area ...

and was honoured with a knighthood in 1995 for services to

Teesside Teesside () is an urban area around the River Tees in North East England. Straddling the border between County Durham and North Yorkshire, it spans the boroughs of Borough of Middlesbrough, Middlesbrough, Borough of Stockton-on-Tees, Stockton ...

.2008
Norman's Alps conquest
''

Hartlepool Mail The ''Hartlepool Mail'' is a newspaper serving Hartlepool, England and the surrounding area. History The paper was founded in Hartlepool in 1877 as ''The Northern Daily Mail'' and continued to be printed in the town until August 2006, when the ...

'', 21 July.Odd Man Out in the Alps Product Description From the Back Cover
''amazon.co.uk''

Personal life

The son of a postman, he won a scholarship to

Dulwich College Dulwich College is a 2-18 private, day and boarding school for boys in Dulwich, London, England. As a public school, it began as the College of God's Gift, founded in 1619 by Elizabethan actor Edward Alleyn, with the original purpose of ...

where he studied sciences and made a mark as a boxer.200
The Alleynann The magazine of Dulwich College
''Dulwich College'', Issue 692 Michaelmas 2008, page 30. He then studied Engineering at

King's College London King's College London (informally King's or KCL) is a public university, public research university in London, England. King's was established by royal charter in 1829 under the patronage of George IV of the United Kingdom, King George IV ...

, graduating in 1960 with first-class honours in Civil Engineering and winning the University Boxing Championship. His book ''Odd Man Out in the Alps'' tells the story of his journey over two summers trekking 400 miles through the French Alps in little more than shorts and sandals.

Companies

Sir Ron's early work as an engineer included the construction of the famous hyperbolic paraboloid roof on the

Commonwealth Institute The Commonwealth Education Trust was a registered charity established in 2007 as the successor trust to the Commonwealth Institute. The trust focuses on primary and secondary education and the training of teachers and invests on educational pr ...

in Kensington. From civil engineering he moved into management consultancy, general construction, property development and

urban renewal Urban renewal (sometimes called urban regeneration in the United Kingdom and urban redevelopment in the United States) is a program of land redevelopment often used to address real or perceived urban decay. Urban renewal involves the clearing ...

. Eventually, he launched his own development company committed to setting higher standards of development, in particular by respecting local architectural traditions. In partnership with Professor

David Bellamy David James Bellamy (18 January 1933 – 11 December 2019) was an English academic, botanist, television presenter, author and prominent environmental campaigner in the UK and globally. His distinctive, energetic style of presenting became wel ...

, he also ran a pioneering consultancy aimed at persuading his fellow developers of the importance of environmental considerations. He has held director appointments at 31 companies, including: *President of the

Tees Valley Tees Valley is a combined authority area in North East England, around the lower River Tees. The area is not a geographical valley. The combined authority covers five council areas: Darlington, Hartlepool, Middlesbrough, Redcar and Cleveland ...

Community Foundation (previously known as

Cleveland Cleveland is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Cuyahoga County. Located along the southern shore of Lake Erie, it is situated across the Canada–U.S. maritime border and approximately west of the Ohio-Pennsylvania st ...

Community Foundation)Who we are A brief history...
''www.teesvalleyfoundation.org'' *Chairman of the

Teesside Development Corporation The Teesside Development Corporation was a government-backed development corporation that was established in 1987 to fund and manage regeneration projects in the former county of Cleveland in North East England. History The corporation was est ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Norman, Ronald 1937 births Alumni of King's College London British chairpersons of corporations Businesspeople awarded knighthoods Deputy lieutenants of Durham English civil engineers English travel writers Knights Bachelor Officers of the Order of the British Empire Living people People educated at Dulwich College