Rafael Robb (born October 31, 1950) is an

economist An economist is a professional and practitioner in the social science discipline of economics. The individual may also study, develop, and apply theories and concepts from economics and write about economic policy. Within this field there are ...

and former professor at the

University of Pennsylvania The University of Pennsylvania (also known as Penn or UPenn) is a private research university in Philadelphia. It is the fourth-oldest institution of higher education in the United States and is ranked among the highest-regarded universitie ...

who confessed to killing his wife in 2006.

Academic career

Robb received his bachelor's degree from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. He went on to obtain a

Ph.D. A Doctor of Philosophy (PhD, Ph.D., or DPhil; Latin: or ') is the most common degree at the highest academic level awarded following a course of study. PhDs are awarded for programs across the whole breadth of academic fields. Because it is ...

in economics at

UCLA The University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) is a public land-grant research university in Los Angeles, California. UCLA's academic roots were established in 1881 as a teachers college then known as the southern branch of the California ...

. Robb joined the University of Pennsylvania faculty in 1984, and was a

tenure Tenure is a category of academic appointment existing in some countries. A tenured post is an indefinite academic appointment that can be terminated only for cause or under extraordinary circumstances, such as financial exigency or program disco ...

d professor at the time of his arrest in 2007. Robb specialized in game theory, a mathematical discipline used to analyze political, economic, and military strategies. He has published numerous papers on game theory and other economic topics with scholars from

Greece Greece,, or , romanized: ', officially the Hellenic Republic, is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the southern tip of the Balkans, and is located at the crossroads of Europe, Asia, and Africa. Greece shares land borders ...

Israel Israel (; he, יִשְׂרָאֵל, ; ar, إِسْرَائِيل, ), officially the State of Israel ( he, מְדִינַת יִשְׂרָאֵל, label=none, translit=Medīnat Yīsrāʾēl; ), is a country in Western Asia. It is situated ...

, Japan, and the US. In most of the papers, his family name is spelled as "Rob". He is also a fellow of the

Econometric Society The Econometric Society is an international society of academic economists interested in applying statistical tools to their field. It is an independent organization with no connections to societies of professional mathematicians or statisticians. ...

, one of the highest honors in economics.

Personal life

Robb grew up in

, and emigrated to the US to pursue graduate studies. He met Ellen Gregory Robb, a sales manager, in 1987, and they married in 1990. They have one daughter.

Killing of wife

Robb pleaded guilty in November 2007 to

voluntary manslaughter Voluntary manslaughter is the killing of a human being in which the offender acted during ''the heat of passion'', under circumstances that would cause a reasonable person to become emotionally or mentally disturbed to the point that they canno ...

in the high-profile death of his wife, Ellen Gregory Robb. She had been bludgeoned to death. Her death occurred on December 22, 2006, during an argument over the couple's divorce and the plans for their home in

Upper Merion Township, Pennsylvania Upper Merion Township is a township in Montgomery County, Pennsylvania. The population was 28,395 at the 2010 U.S. Census. Located from Philadelphia, it consists of the villages of Gulph Mills, King of Prussia, Swedeland, Swedesburg, and port ...

. Robb was arrested on January 8, 2007, and charged with murder. The case was prosecuted by District Attorney (later County Commissioner specially appointed as prosecutor) Bruce Castor. Robb pleaded guilty to manslaughter on November 26, 2007, and resigned from the university. Robb was sentenced on November 19, 2008, to a 10-year prison term, though the prosecutor asked for a sentence of 10 to 20 years. He sought

parole Parole (also known as provisional release or supervised release) is a form of early release of a prison inmate where the prisoner agrees to abide by certain behavioral conditions, including checking-in with their designated parole officers, or ...

after five years, as allowed by his sentence. The state board initially approved, and then rescinded, the request.

Civil case

Following Robb's guilty plea, Ellen Gregory Robb's family brought a civil wrongful death suit against him. In 2014, Robb was ordered to pay $124.26 million in compensatory and punitive damages to his deceased wife's estate, of which the sole beneficiary is his daughter. Robb then made an appeal to reduce this to $100 million, claiming that some of the evidence presented against him during the civil trial should not have been permitted as it unfairly influenced jurors against him. Near the end of his prison sentence, Robb also requested access to frozen assets in order to pay for living expenses. Upon his release, he formally withdrew this plea.

Release

Robb was released from prison on January 8, 2017. After release, he moved to a suburb of

Pittsburgh Pittsburgh ( ) is a city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, United States, and the county seat of Allegheny County. It is the most populous city in both Allegheny County and Western Pennsylvania, the second-most populous city in Pennsylva ...

Notable publications

* Michihiro Kandori, George J. Mailath, and Rafael Robb: "Learning, Mutation, and Long Run Equilibria in Games", ''

Econometrica ''Econometrica'' is a peer-reviewed academic journal of economics, publishing articles in many areas of economics, especially econometrics. It is published by Wiley-Blackwell on behalf of the Econometric Society. The current editor-in-chief is ...

'', Vol. 61, No. 1 (Jan. 1993), pp. 29–56

References

External links

Discovery Communications: Investigation Discovery: Stolen Voices, Buried Secrets: Episode Guide
("Checkmate", second episode on page) {{DEFAULTSORT:Robb, Rafael 1950 births Fellows of the Econometric Society Game theorists Living people University of Pennsylvania faculty American people convicted of manslaughter Prisoners and detainees of Pennsylvania 20th-century American Jews People from Upper Merion Township, Pennsylvania Hebrew University of Jerusalem alumni University of California, Los Angeles alumni 21st-century American Jews