Professor Robinson received his A.B. from Brown University and his M.A. and Ph.D. from Yale University. He came to IU in 1979 and was named Chancellor's Professor in 2002. He is currently Chair of the Sociology Department.

Professor Robinson has used comparative and historical methods to address a broad range of questions in social stratification, economic history, and the sociology of religion: How does belief in the American Dream shape popular attitudes toward social justice? Why did factories develop as a form of production in 19th century America? How did families living in Indianapolis in the late-19th and early-20th centuries make ends meet in the face of economic hardships? Why is trust in others declining in the United States? How does the division between the religiously orthodox and theological modernists affect cultural and economic beliefs in the United States, Europe, and predominantly Muslim nations? What bolsters Americans' sense of community? How have the values that U.S. adults want to see fostered in children changed over the last two decades?

Professor Robinson has published numerous articles in the American Sociological Review, the American Journal of Sociology, and Social Forces, and was a founding editor of Research in Social Stratification and Mobility. At Indiana, he has twice served as Director of the Institute of Social Research and as Director of Undergraduate Studies. Robinson, who equally enjoys teaching large sections of introductory sociology and small graduate seminars, is the recipient of the Sutherland Award for Excellence in Teaching, the Trustees Teaching Award, the Outstanding Mentor Award of the Department of Sociology, and the system-wide Sylvia E. Bowman Award for Teaching Excellence.