Norman R. Augustine is also a former Under Secretary of the Army. He currently serves as a member of the President's Council of Advisors on Science and Technology and the U.S. Department of Homeland Security's Advisory Council. He chaired the National Academy of Sciences' panel that produces the 2005 report, "Rising Above the Gathering Storm: Energizing and Employing America for a Brighter Economic Future."

Among Augustine’s many honors are the National Medal of Technology and the U.S. Department of Defense's highest civilian award, the Distinguished Service Medal, given to him five times. Most recently, he was awarded the 2009 American Chemical Society Public Service Award, the 2008 National Science Foundation Vannevar Bush Award, the 2007 Bower Award for Business Leadership, from The Franklin Institute, the 2005 AAAS Philip Hauge Abelson Prize and the 2006 Public Welfare Medal from the National Academy of Science.

Augustine served as chairman and principal officer of the American Red Cross for nine years and as chairman of the NAE, the AUSA, the AIA, and the Defense Science Board. He is a former president of the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics and the Boy Scouts of America. He is a current or former member of the Board of Directors of ConocoPhillips, Black and Decker, Procter & Gamble and Lockheed Martin and is a member of the board of trustees of Colonial Williamsburg, a trustee emeritus of Johns Hopkins, and a former member of the board of trustees of Princeton and MIT. He holds eighteen honorary degrees. Augustine attended Princeton University where he graduated with a B.S.E. in Aeronautical Engineering, magna cum laude, and an M.S.E.