Dates of office: 1995 - 2007
Duncan Robinson (27 June 1943 - 2 December 2022) was a leading authority on British art from the eighteenth century onwards. He began his career as an Assistant Keeper in the Department of Paintings and Drawings at the Fitzwilliam Museum between 1970 and 1976 and was then appointed Keeper of Paintings and Drawings. From 1975 to 1981, he was additionally a Fellow of Clare College, Cambridge, and a college lecturer.
From 1981 to 1995, Robinson was Director of the Yale Center for British Art and an adjunct professor of art history at Yale University. During this time, he was additionally Chief Executive of the Paul Mellon Centre for Studies in British Art in London.
He returned to the Fitzwilliam Museum as its Director in 1995, and, in 2002, was appointed Master of Magdalene College, Cambridge. Robinson retired as Director of the Fitzwilliam in 2007 in order to devote more time to Magdalene College, his research and his teaching. In 2008, he received a CBE. Robinson retired as Master of Magdalene in 2012 but remained actively involved as an Honorary Fellow.
