Class of 2024

Born in 1943, Dr. William H Robinson, was the oldest of four boys growing up in North Philadelphia, Pa., and insects were the last thing on his mind during childhood. He jokingly refers to himself as a “street urchin” until fifth grade, when the family moved to New Jersey, and he found friends who showed him how to play baseball and soccer.

“They said let’s teach him how to punt and run fast,” he teases. “In baseball, they sent me to right field because, well, no one ever hits to right field.”

In high school, Dr. Robinson gravitated toward wrestling — a team sport and yet he could work on his individual progress. “We all were starting on a level playing field,” he explains. From high school to college, his wrestling weight was 137 pounds. He was third on the mat and lettered in wrestling as a college freshman.

That was at Maryville College in Tennessee, which served about 1,200 students at the time. He and his freshman roommate knew they had to pick a major at the end of their first semester. They also knew they couldn’t just major in “girls.” They made a pact to major in whatever subject they earned an A in first.

“Well, right away, Steve gets an A in math,” Dr. Robinson goodheartedly grumbles. “It took me forever to get an A in anything, but it turned out to be biology.”

Dr. Robinson wasn’t too excited about a biology degree until the following semester, when his professor was actually an entomologist with a doctoral degree. It sealed his fate.

A year later, however, he found he was trading in the small college life in Tennessee for the much bigger campus of Kent State University in Kent, Ohio. The reason was a college girlfriend. The education lasted much longer than the relationship. As Dr. Robinson notes pragmatically, “Sometimes you get your heart broken, and sometimes it changes your direction.”

It led him back to his high school sweetheart, Carol, to whom he has been married since 1965. They have a son and two daughters, seven grandchildren and three great-grandchildren.