Olin Clyde Robison

Who is Olin Clyde Robison?

Olin Clyde Robison served as the thirteenth president of Middlebury College, 1975-1990.

A native of Anacoco, Louisiana, Robison studied at Baylor University and Southwestern Theological Seminary, and received a D. Phil. from Oxford in 1963. He held various positions in the Johnson administration, namely in the Peace Corps and Department of State. He later served as provost at Bowdoin College before being elected president of Middlebury. A personal and professional interest for Dr. Robison was the Soviet Union and its political relations with the United States. He participated in numerous trips sponsored by the State Department and non-governmental organizations to Moscow and environs.

Robison's tenure at Middlebury saw growth in student enrollment and physical infrastructure, and the conversion of fraternities to less exclusive "social houses." He also reinvigorated Middlebury's international reputation through expansion of language teaching and the recruitment of foreign-national students, particularly from the former Soviet Union and East European countries.