Jane Bergman Norton
Lieutenant Governor
Colorado
A lifelong Coloradan, Jane Norton was sworn in as Colorado’s 46th Lieutenant Governor January 13, 2003. Her responsibilities include serving as the statutorily named chair of the Colorado Commission of Indian Affairs; acting as point person for the Owens Administration on health insurance reform; strengthening families by overseeing the state’s volunteerism, mentoring, and adoption initiatives; and serving as Colorado’s delegate to the Aerospace States Association.
Prior to her election, Ms. Norton was appointed Executive Director of the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment by Governor Bill Owens, a position she held from 1999-2002. As such, she had regulatory and programmatic responsibilities ranging from bioterrrorism preparedness; disease prevention and epidemiology; health facilities; family and community health services; emergency medical services; air and water quality protection; hazardous waste and solid waste management; and consumer protection. She managed a staff of 1,100 with a budget of over $280 million. She served as Secretary, State Board of Health; Chair, Governor’s Expert Emergency Epidemic Response Committee; Commissioned Officer, Food and Drug Administration; Board of Directors, Regional Air Quality Council; Leadership Council of the Multi-Agency Wildfire Restoration and Rehabilitation Team; Colorado Natural Resource Damages Trustee; Colorado Strategic Planning Group on Health Care Coverage; member of the Association of State and Territorial Health Officers; National Governors’ Association’s Oral Health Policy Academy Colorado Team; and on the Governor’s Disaster Emergency Council.
In November 2003, Ms. Norton launched and chairs the Lieutenant Governor’s Committee to Promote Adoption. Ms. Norton is currently the honorary chair of the Colorado March of Dimes Prematurity Campaign, Western Region chair for the National Lieutenant Governors Association, serves on the Board of Directors of the American Council of Young Political Leaders, and is a member of the Women’s Forum of Colorado. In November, 2003, Ms. Norton was awarded “Public Servant of the Year” by the Rocky Mountain Family Council. In October, 2003, Persons Living with HIV Action Network of Colorado honored Ms. Norton with the Legislator of the Year award for her leadership on legislative issues affecting the lives of people living with HIV/AIDS. Ms. Norton was also chosen by Colorado State University to serve as a Monfort Professor in Residence. In 1999 she received Regis University’s David M. Clarke, S.J. Innovative Leadership Award and was the 2001 recipient of Colorado State University’s College of Applied Human Sciences Honor Alumna Award. Ms. Norton has received the US Public Health Service Assistant Secretary’s Award for Outstanding Accomplishment for increasing childhood immunization rates. She also received the US Administration on Aging's Outstanding Service to Seniors Award.
She has also served on the Children’s Basic Health Plan Policy Board; Governor’s Task Force on Victim Support for the Columbine High School Tragedy; Co-Chair of the Colorado Commission on Children’s Dental Health; Task Force on Small Group and Rural Access Issues; Governor’s Task Force for Persons with Disabilities; and the Governor’s Blue Ribbon Panel on Workforce Issues in Long Term Care.
Prior to joining the Owens Administration, Lieutenant Governor Norton was tapped by Presidents Ronald Reagan and George H.W. Bush to serve as the six state (CO, MT, ND, SD, UT, WY) regional director of the US Department of Health and Human Services. She has also served as a member of the Colorado House of Representatives, filling the remainder of an unexpired term from mid-1986 to January 1987.
Jane is the daughter of Elinor Pitman Bergman, a retired Grand Junction teacher
and native of Pueblo, and Walter F. "Bus" Bergman, a native of Denver
and retired Mesa College coach. Born and raised in Grand Junction, she began
teaching middle school in Fort Lupton after graduating from Colorado State University
in 1976 with a Bachelor of Science with distinction in health sciences. She
also has a Master of Sciences in Management degree from Regis University, Denver.
Lieutenant Governor Norton is married to Mike Norton, former U.S. Attorney of
Colorado. She is the mother of two grown children, and is an avid hiker and
skier.
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