Donald Robinson has been bound to UMass for nearly 50 years, first as student now as director of Environmental Health.
AMHERST – For Donald Robinson, the longtime director of Environmental Health and Safety at the University of Massachusetts Amherst, UMass has been as central to his life as a member of his family.
He graduated from the university, met his wife there, two of his three children have graduated from it, and he has worked on the campus nearing 40 years. As UMass celebrates its 150th anniversary, the 70-year-old Robinson talked about his UMass life.
“I’ve experienced it as a student, as a parent, as a faculty member, as a staff member. The university has been really great to me. It’s been my life. I owe my career to it. It’s a wonderful place to be.”
Growing up in a single-parent home in Springfield in the 1950s, Robinson couldn’t have afforded college except for a special program that melded UMass with the former General Electric plant in Pittsfield in an apprenticeship program. The program “was initially intended (to address) the shortage of engineering technicians,” he said. It offered pay and “really equipped us well (on) how the manufacturing processes worked. It was hands-on.”
He was there for four years and then came to campus for two and graduated with a degree in 1966. He returned to General Electric in Pittsfield and then moved to the company's Lynn plant where he became manager of occupational safety from 1972 to 1975. That’s when he came back to UMass where he has been ever since, both as employee and student. He received his doctorate in 1984.
He met his wife Sara on a blind date on campus when he was a student the first time. They both drove Nash Metropolitans. She was studying psychology with a minor in education. They had their wedding reception in the Cape Cod Lounge on campus.
“The changes across the entire campus are enormous,” said Robinson. “The technology changes are unbelievable. We didn’t have computers. We didn’t have calculators.” When he was in school they used slide rules for computations.
Robinson said there have been myriad changes in his department too. When he first started they were a small department of seven based in health services, where he also taught.
He said they served mainly as consultants to other departments.
Now as a separate department, Environmental Health and Safety is responsible for safety issues of all kinds, including hazardous materials spills and exposure.
All chemicals ordered by researchers come to his department so there is one delivery location on campus. His office is in charge of the physical plant safety and supervising the emergency medical technician program, which he said is booming.
He also assesses risks.
Early on, he saw that the risk of a fatal fire was high.
Even before the 1977 fatal fire at Providence College he had begun looking at how to make the campus safer.
“We just celebrated what was the culmination of that program,” he said.
Last year, the campus completed a seven-year $27.2 million fire safety program that provides sprinklers in every room in every dorm on campus.
He also worked on the first smoking restrictions on campus with then-Chancellor David Scott in the early 1990s, and he’s working again on the policy changes as the campus becomes smoke free July 1.
“The emphasis is on health. Glad to see it happen,” he said.
From his perch, he has seen many changing of the administrative guard.
“Each one has a different style of management. (Former chancellor) David Scott said the university is like an ocean liner, it takes it a while to turn it around,” he said.
“I’m hoping for more leadership stability going forward. That would be helpful as we progress as an institution,” he said.
Chancellor Kumble Subbaswamy, who became the campus leader in July and was formally inaugurated Saturday, is the 11th chancellor Robinson has worked with.
Robinson recently retired from the Board of Assessors in Leverett, where he lives, after 36 years.
As for his UMass job, Robinson said is considering retirement but has not made a decision.