[6] During his tenure as President of the University of Colorado, he oversaw the redesign of the Boulder campus under the plans of noted architect, Charles Zeller Klauder.

[8] Norlin is also remembered for resisting efforts by the Ku Klux Klan, which had taken control of the Colorado legislature in about 1922.

He was a Weil Lecturer at the University of North Carolina in 1934 and was also a trustee of the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching.

However, due to controversy over the appointment of his successor, Norlin remained president until Robert L. Stearns succeeded him on September 8, 1939.

[11][12] George Norlin married Mildred "Minnie" Covert Deutcher on June 21, 1904 in Cleveland, Ohio.

[16] The University of Colorado at Boulder offers the Norlin Scholars Program for highly motivated students with excellent academic or creative ability.