Bill Robbins (b. 1935) is a Distinguished Professor Emeritus of History who was an active member of the OSU faculty from 1971 to 1999. Regarded today as a premiere historian of the American West, Robbins came from a humble background, working as a logger and elementary school teacher before completing his Ph.D. at the age of thirty-five. During his highly accomplished career at Oregon State, Robbins authored a two-volume history of Oregon as well as an acclaimed study of socioeconomic change on Oregon's central coast. His later works include a biography of Oregon politician Monroe Sweetland and a history of Oregon State University titled The People's School. Robbins' interview details his unusual path toward academia as well as his institutional memories from a long career as an OSU History professor.

Life history interview conducted by Mike Dicianna for inclusion in the Oregon State University Sesquicentennial Oral History Collection (OH 26), Special Collections and Archives Research Center, Oregon State University Libraries.