David Norton, Ph.D.

Vice President for Research
University of Florida

Under Dr. David Norton’s leadership since becoming vice president for research in 2012, the University of Florida’s research enterprise has grown from under $700 million in annual expenditures to a record $1.33 billion in 2025. 

Dr. Norton has also led a dramatic expansion of UF Innovate, the technology transfer arm of the university. In 2025, faculty submitted a record 466 technology disclosures to UF Innovate and the university’s two business incubators — The Hub and Sid Martin Biotech — were again named among the best in the world. UF Innovate also executed 131 licenses and filed 455 patent applications. Since its inception in 1995, UF Innovate has generated more than $10.4 billion in private investments, launched upwards of 300 startups via tech licensing, and created over 8,000 startup jobs.

Dr. Norton has helped advance UF’s artificial intelligence initiative by supporting existing faculty and helping to recruit dozens of additional faculty from around the world. He has helped to support the expansion of UF’s HiPerGator supercomputer and construction of the university’s state-of-the-art Malachowsky Hall for Data Science and Information Technology. Among the new multidisciplinary research hubs created during Dr. Norton’s tenure are the Astraeus Space Institute and the Artificial Intelligence and Informatics Research Institute.

Dr. Norton has authored/coauthored 370 refereed journal articles with over 17,500 citations.  He is an inventor on 10 patents. He is a Fellow of the American Physical Society, the American Vacuum Society, the American Association for the Advancement of Science, and the National Academy of Inventors. Dr. Norton earned his bachelor’s and doctoral degrees in Electrical & Computer Engineering from Louisiana State University.