David W. Robinson, Ph.D., is currently Professor and Executive Vice Provost at Oregon Health & Science University (OHSU) in Portland, Oregon.

Dr. Robinson was born and raised in rural North Yorkshire, England, before obtaining a B.Sc. in Physiology at University College London and a Ph.D. at Cambridge University. In 1992 he moved to the United States to do post-doctoral training at the University of California at Davis, where he subsequently became a research track faculty member before moving to OHSU in 1997.

Dr. Robinson’s research primarily focused on gaining a better understanding of the role played by retinal development in the maturation of the circadian and visual systems. Dr. Robinson’s responsibilities as an educator have included teaching and directing courses in Ph.D. and health profession programs, and serving as advisor to three graduate students in OHSU’s Neuroscience Graduate Program and Integrated Biomedical Sciences program.

At OHSU, Dr. Robinson’s administrative work began as the Senior Technology Advisor for Research and Education in 2000. Subsequent to that, he served as Vice Provost for Academic Technology (2006), Director of Educational Communications (2006), Interim University Librarian (2008), Vice Provost for Academic Technology and Information Services (2008), Interim Provost for Education and Research (2009), and Interim Provost and Vice President for Academic Affairs (2010) before receiving his current appointment as Executive Vice Provost (2011). Dr. Robinson also served as Interim Executive Vice President and Provost from July 2021 until July 2022, when Dr. Marie Chisholm-Burns joined OHSU as Executive Vice President and Provost.

In his current role, Dr. Robinson directly supports Provost Chisholm-Burns in her leadership and oversight of the academic mission at OHSU and collaborates with other members of OHSU Leadership on institution-wide research and administrative initiatives. He also supports the Provost on OHSU’s statewide workforce initiatives, K-12 STEM outreach programs, state appropriation budget development and management, and the relationship with Oregon’s public universities.