Scottish Commemorations Panel: chair biography

From the gangland areas of Glasgow and Edinburgh as a young Minister, to The Parachute Regiment and The Black Watch, to Fettes College as Chaplain and, at the age of 32, becoming Headmaster of Scotland's oldest boarding school, Loretto – Norman's life has represented a personal commitment to leadership and to developing talent in others.

A former BBC National Governor for Scotland, it was during his time as Parish Minister of Kilmuir and Stenscholl on the Isle of Skye that Norman founded Columba 1400, the pioneering and highly regarded Community and International Leadership Centre on the Isle of Skye which also operates from a second centre on the banks of Loch Lomond and has satellite operations in Australia and South Africa.

Columba 1400's aim and purpose is to help young people from troubled backgrounds to fulfil their leadership potential and so to live lives of purpose and meaning.

A celebrated international speaker and author, Norman is Founder of Drummond International (a leading international business consultancy specialising in inspirational Executive Coaching and innovative Leadership Retreats). He is also a non-Executive Director of his fifth-generation family shipping company J & J Denholm Limited.

Norman is a Chaplain to Her Majesty The Queen in Scotland, a Fellow of the Royal Society of Edinburgh, a Visiting Professor of Leadership in Education at the University of Edinburgh and holds an Honorary Doctorate from Glasgow Caledonian University.