Professor James O'Higgins Norman is UNESCO Chair on Bullying and Cyberbullying and a Professor of Clinical Sociology at DCU Institute of Education.

James leads DCU Anti-Bullying Centre, a University designated research centre which investigates bullying and digital safety in educational and organisational contexts. His research on bullying and digital safety has been funded by the European Commission, the Government of Ireland, the Irish Research Council, Enterprise Ireland, Rethink Ireland and several industry based foundations including Vodafone Foundation Ireland, Meta, and the Equinix Foundation. 

As a Clinical Sociologist, James is committed to the application of theory and research to real world challenges. He has held several positions of responsibility related to bullying and digital safety including as a Chair of UNESCO's Scientific Committee on Bullying and Cyberbullying, the World Anti-Bullying Forum, the Ministerial Steering Committee on School Bullying, the National Advisory Council on Online Safety, and previously on the NCCA Sub-Committee on Intercultural Education for Primary Schools. He has presented his research at the OECD, the UN, WHO, and USAID.

James has served as a member of the editorial board of the Journal of Pastoral Care in Education and the Journal of Religious Education. He is a founding Editor-in-Chief of the International Journal of Bullying Prevention and has been published in several highly ranked journals including the British Journal of Educational Psychology, Journal of Feminist Media Studies, and the Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health. He is co-editor of the Wiley-Blackwell Handbook on Bullying. 

In 2020, James received the President's Award for Research Impact for his research on bullying interventions in post-primary schools. He also received a DCU Invent Commercialisation Award in 2019 and 2022 for his research on bullying and digital safety with social media and telecommunications companies.