Robert L. Norton earned undergraduate degrees in both mechanical engineering and industrial technology at Northeastern University and an MS in engineering design at Tufts University. He was awarded a Dr. Eng. (h.c.) by WPI in 2012. He is a registered professional engineer in Massachusetts and Florida.

He has extensive industrial experience in engineering design and manufacturing and many years' experience teaching mechanical engineering, engineering design, computer science, and related subjects at Northeastern University, Tufts University, and Worcester Polytechnic Institute. Norton has been on the faculty of Worcester Polytechnic Institute since 1981 and is currently Milton Prince Higgins II Distinguished Professor Emeritus in the mechanical engineering department. He taught undergraduate and graduate courses in mechanical engineering with an emphasis on design, kinematics, vibrations, and dynamics of machinery for 31 years at WPI before retiring from active teaching. As of this writing, he has over 55 years of professional experience in the practice of mechanical engineering. He is the author of numerous technical papers and journal articles covering kinematics, dynamics of machinery, cam design and manufacturing, computers in education, and engineering education and of the texts Design of Machinery, 6ed, Machine Design: An Integrated Approach, 6ed and the Cam Design and Manufacturing Handbook, 2ed. He is a Fellow and life member of the American Society of Mechanical Engineers and a past member of the Society of Automotive Engineers. In 2007, he was chosen as U.S.

Professor of the Year for Massachusetts by the Council for the Advancement and Support of Education (CASE) and the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching, who jointly present the only national awards for teaching excellence given in the United States of America.