Ezekiel Gilman Robinson papers (MS.1C.7)

Biographical note

Ezekiel Gilman Robinson (1815-1894), seventh president of Brown University, was born in Attleboro, Massachusetts on March 23, 1815 to Cynthia and Ezekiel Robinson. After studying at multiple high schools in Wrentham, Massachusetts, Pawtucket, Rhode Island, and New Hampton, New Hampshire, Robinson entered Brown University in 1835, as a sophomore. While a student in high school and at Brown, Robinson preached services for the First Baptist Church in Pawtucket, and eventually decided to become a minister. A year after his graduation from Brown, Robinson began attending Newton Theological Seminary in Newton, Massachusetts.

Following his graduation in 1842, Robinson moved around Kentucky, Virginia, and Ohio teaching at seminaries and preaching in various Baptist churches. Robinson moved to Rochester, New York in 1853 as a professor of Christian theology at the Rochester Theological Seminary. He was named president of the Seminary in 1860. In 1867, Brown University invited Robinson to become President, but he refused. When invited again in 1871, he accepted and returned to Providence.

Robinson served as President of Brown University from 1872 to 1889. In that time, Robinson sought to bring Brown up to the standards of other New England institutions by expanding the science and modern languages departments, and reinstituting graduate studies programs. Robinson continued to teach classes in philosophy, morality, theology, and ethics. While President, Robinson also improved the campus of Brown by renovating buildings, updating science labs and improving the landscaping. In 1889, Robinson retired.

Following retirement, Robinson continued to preach, teach, and write. Some of his teaching appointments included the Crozer Theological School, Newton Theological Seminary, Rochester Theological Seminary, the University of Chicago, and Vassar College, where he had been a trustee since its inception. On a visit to Boston in June of 1894, Robinson fell ill and died at a Boston city hospital. He was buried in Rochester, New York. The class of 1884 erected a gate in Robinson’s name in 1924. An editorial in the Brown Alumni Monthly stated, "We may not all have loved him then, but we respected him. He was genuine, all through, except so far as some of his austerity may have been assumed in self-defense against an inconvenient kindliness of heart." (Information from the Encyclopedia Brunonia was included in this biographical note)