Cheryl Norton

Cheryl J. Norton is the 10th president of Southern Connecticut State
University and the first woman to lead the 114-year-old institution.

As president of Southern, she oversees the $260 million construction program
that is transforming the campus and is preparing for the continued growth of
Southern as a result of the passage of CSUS 2020, which will add three more
academic buildings. With more than 12,000 students and one of the largest
graduate programs in New England, this campus development has impacted the
educational opportunities of not only the southern Connecticut area, but the
state as well.

Dr. Norton was formerly the provost at Metropolitan State College of Denver,
the nation's largest urban public baccalaureate college, serving more than
20,000 students. Her 28-year career at the college began with a faculty
appointment where she worked her way to becoming a tenured, full professor
prior to serving in a variety of administrative positions.

Dr. Norton grew up in suburban Cleveland, where she was the valedictorian of
her high school class. She graduated with honors in 1971 from Denison
University in Granville, Ohio, with a bachelor's degree in physical education
and recreation. There she was elected to the Phi Beta Kappa academic
honorary. Subsequently, Dr. Norton earned two master's degrees and a
doctorate in applied physiology from Columbia University.

Dr. Norton has published two books and numerous articles and made over 120
national, regional, and state presentations in her areas of expertise:
physical education and applied physiology. For her contributions to the
field of sports medicine, including serving as president of state and
regional professional organizations, Dr. Norton was elected a Fellow of the
American College of Sports Medicine.

Also an accomplished athlete, Dr. Norton has been nationally ranked
as a marathon runner and has earned a black belt in Tae Kwon Do, won a state Tae Kwon Do championship in fighting and forms, played intercollegiate
basketball and volleyball, raced a dog sled team for 10 years, and refereed
soccer games with her husband, Henry.

The couple has two sons: Joel, a graduate of Syracuse University Law School
is married and is employed as an attorney in the Chicago area, and Aaron, an
ICU neurotrauma nurse St. Anthony's Central Hospital in Denver. Henry is the
accountant for the International Festival of Arts and Ideas in New Haven.