After completing an honours degree in civil engineering in 1944, Bob Norman served overseas before joining the Civil Engineering Design Office of the Public Works Department.
He gained an honours degree in mathematics and then spent 18 months on engineering construction in the United Kingdom as a University Travelling Scholar. In 1956-57 he travelled extensively in the United States on a Harkness Fellowship, studying roads and bridges.
He was appointed chief designing engineer in 1965 and, from 1967 to 1969, was a commissioner in the State Services Commission. He then returned to the Ministry of Works and Development, rising to become Commissioner of Works in 1983.
Bob represented New Zealand at a number of UNESCO and United Nations meetings in the 1970s. After his retirement in 1985 he worked as a consultant and was involved in a number of areas, such as the Antarctic and the refurbishment and development of Parliament Buildings.
He was made a companion of the Queen’s Service Order in 1985.
