Professor Robbins graduated from Dartmouth College in 1967 with an AB in Mathematics and from Duke University in 1972 with a Ph.D in Mathematics, with a dissertation in the area of abstract harmonic analysis.  In 1983 he received an MS in Computer Science from the Hartford Graduate Center of Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute.  He has been at Trinity since 1972, and is currently Seabury Professor of Mathematics and Natural Philosophy.

While he has taught nearly every  course in the standard undergraduate mathematics curriculum, his favorites have been Analysis, Abstract Algebra, Mathematics of Finance, and Calculus.  He believes that although it is very difficult to learn mathematics quickly and painlessly, the suffering can be rewarded by both a sense of accomplishment and a greater understanding of the physical world and the logical edifice of the field.