Robert O. Collins facts for kids

Robert Oakley Collins (born April 1, 1933 – died April 11, 2008) was an American historian. He was an expert on the history of East Africa and Sudan. He wrote many articles and thirty-five books. One of his famous books was Shadows in the Grass: Britain in the Southern Sudan (1983). This book won an award for being the best book on British History and Social Sciences written by a North American.

Collins also worked as an adviser for different groups. He advised the High Executive Council (HEC) Regional Government in the 1970s. He also advised Chevron Overseas Petroleum and the US Government. He wrote reports about Sudan and the Middle East for important decision-makers. In 1980, the President of Sudan, Gaafar Nimeiry, gave him a special award called the Order of Sciences, Arts and Art, Gold Class. This was for his long work studying the Upper Nile region.

Robert O. Collins was a History Professor at the University of California, Santa Barbara from 1965 to 1994. Many people also know him for a book he wrote with J. Millard Burr, called Alms for Jihad: Charity and Terrorism in the Islamic World (2006).

About Robert O. Collins

Early Life and Education

Robert O. Collins was born in Waukegan, Illinois, in 1933. His father, William George Collins, was an engineer who worked with ceramics. His mother, Louise Van Horsen Jack, was a nurse. Robert had two brothers. His older brother, Jack Gore Collins, worked for the US Department of Justice. His younger brother, George William Collins II, was an astronomer.

Robert went to Dartmouth College in 1950. There, he became very interested in African history while reading books in the library. In 1954, he finished his history paper about a person named Emin Pasha. He then won a Marshall Scholarship to study at Oxford University in England.

In 1955, while studying at Balliol College, Oxford, he received money from the Ford Foundation. This helped him research for his master's degree. He first traveled to Sudan in 1956, just a few months after Sudan became an independent country. He went there to do research in the National Records Office of Sudan. He earned his Master's degree in History from Oxford that year. Then, he went to Yale University in 1957. Collins earned his PhD in 1959. His PhD paper was about the Mahdist invasions in Southern Sudan. It was later published as a book called The Southern Sudan, 1883–1898. A struggle for control in 1962.

His Career as a Professor

After working at Williams College and Columbia University, Collins moved to the University of California, Santa Barbara (UCSB) in 1965. He worked there as a Professor of History until 1994. He also held several important leadership roles at UCSB. He was the Dean of UCSB's Graduate Division from 1970 to 1980. He also directed the Center for Developing Nations and the University of California's Washington Center.

In 1972, Collins led a group that looked at the University of California Library system. Their report helped create the Melvyl system, which was a big step for library automation. He retired from UCSB in 1994 but continued to teach, write, and help students. Collins loved collecting documents, photos, and books about Sudan and East Africa. In 1997, he gave his large collection to Durham University's Sudan Archive. He also donated his personal diary about his work at the university to the library at the University of California, Santa Barbara.

Helping Preserve History in Southern Sudan

Collins made a very important contribution to the National Archives of South Sudan. He helped create an early list of files and how they were organized. After the Addis Ababa Agreement (1972), a minister named Enoch Mading de Garang started working on an archive for Southern Sudanese political groups.

In 1976, Robert Collins and his wife, Janyce, traveled to Southern Sudan. They were invited by E.M. Garang to write a report. This report was about how to collect and save materials related to Southern Sudan's recent history. This was part of the Southern Sudan Historical Retrieval Project. Collins talked to scholars and officials. He visited places where the University of Juba and parliament buildings were planned. He also checked files in many towns across Southern Sudan. Robert and Janyce had to stay in Malakal for several weeks because of an unexpected health issue in the region. When he returned to Juba, Collins suggested that E.M. Garang should also include Southern Sudan's official government records in the archives.

Private Life

Robert Collins, often called "Bob," owned a yellow Beetle car. In 1972, he married Janyce Hutchins (1934–2005). She was a university administrator. They often traveled together to Africa, the Middle East, and Europe.