College of Business and Behavioral Sciences
Office of the Dean
December 30, 1976
Dr. George C. Robinson, retired Professor of Political Science, died Tuesday, December 28, 1976, at Sartori Hospital in Cedar Falls. His death was attributed to complications of age. Dr. Robinson was born at Oconomowoc, Wisconsin, on April 25, 1894. He received his B. A. degree in 1916 from the University of Wisconsin and his M. A. (1920) and Ph. D. (1932) degrees from Harvard University. He began his teaching career at Jefferson High School, Jefferson, Wisconsin, where he was soon named Assistant Superintendent. He left this position in 1918 to enter the U. S. Army where he served as an officer until 1919. In 1922 he joined the faculty at Iowa State Teachers College as a teacher of government and, except for his return to Harvard to finish his doctorate in 1930-31 and his civilian service in the U. S. War Department during World War II, he continued to teach here until he took emeritus status in 1962. He retired in 1970.
Dr. Robinson served in city government for many years. He wrote and administered tests as Cedar Falls' first Civil Service Commission Chairman in 1940 and served as city councilman from 1956 until 1964. He was an active member and leader in many local and state civic organizations; he served as Post Commander in American Legion Post No. 237, Cedar Falls, and Postmaster of the Black Hawk Lodge. He held a life membership in the American Political Science Association and was also a member of the National Municipal League and the AAUP. In 1972 Dr. Robinson delivered the inaugural lectures in the annual George C. Robinson Lectureship in Local Government which was established by the Department of Political Science to honor his nearly forty years of teaching and service to the University of Northern Iowa and his community.
Funeral services were held on Thursday afternoon, December 30, 1976, at the Lutheran Home Chapel in Cedar Falls. The burial was in Fairview Cemetery, Cedar Falls.