Robin has made a broad range of contributions to the development of rigorous science underpinning UK and global breeding programmes. His collaborations with the various Edinburgh groups had, and continue to have, particular impact in UK dairy, beef, and sheep breeding. Finally, Robin has made a major input to post-graduate education in Edinburgh. For many years, he taught components of the MSc in Animal Breeding and Quantitative Genetics. He was a formal supervisor of more than twenty research students and an informal mentor of many more. Robin has been incredibly generous with his ideas to both students and established researchers. Several of his former students now have high international reputations.