Tom Normand was born in Aberdour in Fife. He was educated in Dunfermline, and subsequently took a degree in Sociology and Politics at Glasgow College. His doctoral thesis, in the Sociology of Culture, was taken at Durham University. He has taught at Duncan of Jordanstone College of Art in Dundee, and lectures in the History of Art at the University of St Andrews. He has published widely in the history of British art. He has lectured, both nationally and internationally, on Scottish art, culture and society.