Robin Nelson Downes

We celebrate the life of Robin Nelson Downes, who, after a long and meaningful journey through time, made a peaceful exit at age 93 on Dec. 3, 2025, in Houston, Texas, surrounded and cherished by his wife and children. He was a remarkable man who excelled through education, integrity, and hard work, achieving fulfillment in both his professional and private lives. He loved and was loved, was a lifelong learner, reader, traveler, and sharer of knowledge, and left the world a better place by his presence in it.
Robin was born in Connecticut in 1932 to a New England father and an English-born mother. A foundational story of Robin's young life was his application of his intellectual gifts and diligence to rise through the American educational system, achieving a graduate degree in Library Sciences which in turn led to a fulfilling career in university library administration. "In a familiar version of the American dream," Robin once wrote, "our ambitions for the future began with the bells which signaled the start of each day of school." Robin recognized that he was fortunate to have had parents who emphasized the importance of education. In turn, he pursued a career in service to higher education and passed on to his own children a dedication to learning, inquiry, and enlightenment values.
Robin honorably served in the United States Army from July 1954 through April 1956, receiving a National Defense Service Medal and Good Conduct Medal. He was a member of the 136th Engineer Aviation Brigade, a unit of the U.S. Army on loan to the Air Force, and in that role contributed to flood relief efforts during the 1955 floods in Yuba-Sutter Counties in California.
Robin obtained a Bachelor of Arts degree from Florida State University in 1954 and a Master's Degree in Library Sciences in 1957. In 1958 he married Virginia Ruth Cooper, a fellow student in the Florida State library sciences program. They moved to Athens, Georgia, where son David Robin was born, and Robin worked in the University of Georgia's library system. The family then moved to Ann Arbor, Michigan, where Robin worked in the University of Michigan libraries and daughter Ruth Brett was born. Robin and Virginia amicably divorced in 1981 and thereafter maintained close and supportive relationships with their children.
At the University of Michigan Robin rose through the ranks, becoming an Associate Director in 1972. In 1980 he was serving as Associate Director of Technical Services when he was offered a leadership position at the University of Houston, which he accepted. Until his retirement in 1997, Robin served as Director of Libraries at the University of Houston. During his tenure as Director, he positioned the library as a leader in the application of computer technology in library operations. He was instrumental in placing the library as an innovator in the digitization of the card catalog. Through the online catalog and other digitized information content, he expanded the scope of library services, providing access to the catalog across the University, with the potential for expanded services well beyond what could be imagined at the time when he assumed his position as library director in 1980. In addition to promoting the development of the online catalog, he was an advocate for the electronic publishing of scholarly materials, and encouraged and provided support for an open access journal in the late 1980s, at a time when university libraries were among the first publishers of digital scholarly journals on the internet. He also established a system applying expert systems technology to the ways in which libraries provided reference services. Throughout his tenure he fostered innovation and leadership among his staff, and encouraged an atmosphere of innovation in technology applications, positioning the library as a significant player supporting digital initiatives at the University.
In 1982 Robin married Carolyn Olivia Frost, a professor at the University of Michigan School of Library Science, and for almost three decades they maintained a commuting marriage, traveling regularly between Houston and Ann Arbor. In 1985 they were featured in an article on commuting marriages in Newsweek magazine. Robin was always supportive and encouraging of his wife's career goals, providing sage insights from his experience as an administrator as she assumed various dean roles at the University of Michigan School of Information; and, as a writer and expert in library digital innovation, applying his editorial skills to review her scholarly publications. After Olivia's retirement and subsequent move to Houston, they were able to travel extensively, with Robin researching and implementing the travel itinerary, and enhancing the travel experience with erudite and entertaining background information gleaned from his studies of classical and European history. In later years, as Robin's health declined, Olivia was fortunate to be able to provide personalized full-time care for him at their Houston home.
Robin read widely with a particular interest in history, biography, travel writing, and fiction. He was an aficionado of the performing arts, and was especially fond of the Gluck opera Orfeo and Euridice, which he experienced in numerous venues around the world. In addition, having been an avid sailor in his youth, Robin ultimately achieved the dream of owning his own sailboat, a Cape Dory. Even when no longer a boat owner, he enjoyed dining at Joe Lee's in Kemah, Texas, to watch the passing sailboats.
Robin is survived by his wife of 43 years, Carolyn Olivia Frost, his children David Robin Downes and Ruth Brett Downes, and his granddaughter Catherine Madden Downes.
The family plans a private ceremony to return Robin's ashes to Galveston Bay, a place that was special to him. The family invites those who wish to express sympathy to consider making a donation to the Bladder Cancer Multidisciplinary Translational Research Program at Baylor College of Medicine, or to the University of Houston Libraries.