Arthur Brouhard Robinson (born March 24, 1942
) is an American
biochemist
Biochemists are scientists who are trained in biochemistry. They study chemical processes and chemical transformations in living organisms. Biochemists study DNA, proteins and Cell (biology), cell parts. The word "biochemist" is a portmanteau of ...
,
conservative
Conservatism is a cultural, social, and political philosophy and ideology that seeks to promote and preserve traditional institutions, customs, and values. The central tenets of conservatism may vary in relation to the culture and civiliza ...
activist, prominent
climate change denier
Climate change denial (also global warming denial) is a form of science denial characterized by rejecting, refusing to acknowledge, disputing, or fighting the scientific consensus on climate change. Those promoting denial commonly use rhetor ...
, and politician who served as the
Oregon State Senator from the
2nd District from 2021 to 2025. He was the five-time
Republican nominee for the
United States House of Representatives
The United States House of Representatives is a chamber of the Bicameralism, bicameral United States Congress; it is the lower house, with the U.S. Senate being the upper house. Together, the House and Senate have the authority under Artic ...
for
Oregon's 4th congressional district
Oregon's 4th congressional district represents the southern half of Oregon's coastal counties, including Coos County, Oregon, Coos, Curry County, Oregon, Curry, Lincoln County, Oregon, Lincoln, Lane County, Oregon, Lane, and Benton County, Or ...
.
A former faculty member of the
University of California, San Diego
The University of California, San Diego (UC San Diego in communications material, formerly and colloquially UCSD) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in San Diego, California, United States. Es ...
, Robinson now runs a privately funded laboratory known as the Oregon Institute of Science and Medicine in
Cave Junction, Oregon
Cave Junction is a city in Josephine County, Oregon, United States. The city got its name by virtue of its location at the junction of Redwood Highway ( U.S. Route 199) and Caves Highway ( Oregon Route 46). As of the 2020 census, the city popula ...
,
[ a newsletter called ''Access to Energy'',][ and publishes the ''Robinson Self-Teaching Home School Curriculum''.]
As the Republican nominee for the Fourth District in Oregon, Robinson ran and lost to Democratic incumbent Peter DeFazio
Peter Anthony DeFazio ( ; born May 27, 1947) is an American politician who served as the U.S. representative for from 1987 to 2023. He is a member of the Democratic Party and is a founder of the Congressional Progressive Caucus. A native of Mas ...
in five consecutive elections: 2010
The year saw a multitude of natural and environmental disasters such as the 2010 Haiti earthquake, the Deepwater Horizon oil spill, and the 2010 Chile earthquake. The 2009 swine flu pandemic, swine flu pandemic which began the previous year ...
, 2012
2012 was designated as:
*International Year of Cooperatives
*International Year of Sustainable Energy for All
Events January
*January 4 – The Cicada 3301 internet hunt begins.
* January 12 – Peaceful protests begin in the R ...
, 2014
The year 2014 was marked by the surge of the Western African Ebola epidemic, West African Ebola epidemic, which began in 2013, becoming the List of Ebola outbreaks, most widespread outbreak of the Ebola, Ebola virus in human history, resul ...
, 2016
2016 was designated as:
* International Year of Pulses by the sixty-eighth session of the United Nations General Assembly.
* International Year of Global Understanding (IYGU) by the International Council for Science (ICSU), the Internationa ...
, and 2018
Events January
* January 1 – Bulgaria takes over the Presidency of the Council of the European Union, after the Estonian presidency.
* January 4 – SPLM-IO rebels loyal to Chan Garang Lual start a raid against Juba, capital of ...
. He served as chairman of the Oregon Republican Party
The Oregon Republican Party is the U.S. state, state affiliate of the Republican Party (United States), United States Republican Party in Oregon, headquartered in Salem, Oregon, Salem. The party was established in the Oregon Territory in Februar ...
from August 2013 to February 2015.
Early life and education
Robinson was born in Chicago.[ He received a BS in ]chemistry
Chemistry is the scientific study of the properties and behavior of matter. It is a physical science within the natural sciences that studies the chemical elements that make up matter and chemical compound, compounds made of atoms, molecules a ...
from the California Institute of Technology (Caltech) in 1963, and a PhD in biochemistry
Biochemistry, or biological chemistry, is the study of chemical processes within and relating to living organisms. A sub-discipline of both chemistry and biology, biochemistry may be divided into three fields: structural biology, enzymology, a ...
from the University of California, San Diego in 1968. His doctoral thesis was titled, ''Experiments on the synthesis and spectral characterization of cytochrome-related molecules''.
Scientific career
Early career
Robinson was one of the few students ever to be appointed to the faculty of the University of California, San Diego immediately after getting his Ph.D.,[ but resigned four years later.][
He was a co-founder, along with ]Linus Pauling
Linus Carl Pauling ( ; February 28, 1901August 19, 1994) was an American chemist and peace activist. He published more than 1,200 papers and books, of which about 850 dealt with scientific topics. ''New Scientist'' called him one of the 20 gre ...
and Keene Dimick, of the Institute of Orthomolecular Medicine, later renamed the Linus Pauling Institute
The Linus Pauling Institute is a research institute located at the Oregon State University with a focus on health maintenance. The mission statement of the institute is to determine the functional roles of micronutrients and phytochemicals in pr ...
in 1973.
Linus Pauling Institute
Robinson was the president, director, and a research professor with tenure at the institute.
In June 1978, Robinson was asked to consult with the Executive Committee of the Linus Pauling Institute regarding important decisions involving the Institute. The members of the Executive Committee included Robinson, Pauling, and Executive Vice President Richard Hicks. The same day Robinson was asked to consult, he (Robinson) dismissed Hicks by terminating the fund raising services agreement employing Hicks, claiming that Hicks had failed to generate the substantial donations expected of him.
Disturbed by Robinson's swift actions against Hicks, Pauling declared that he no longer had "trust and confidence in Robinson", and asked him to resign immediately. Robinson requested thirty days to consider the resignation and ultimately refused. Pauling called a meeting of the board of trustees regarding Robinson's refusal to resign. The board granted Robinson a leave of absence, and passed all executive authority to Pauling, later electing him president and director of the institute.[
]
Lawsuit
Robinson responded to the dismissal by charging that he, not Pauling, had done the experimental work at the institute, and that "Linus has not personally contributed significant research work on vitamin C and human health". Robinson filed a lawsuit against the Institute for $25.5 million, finally settling for $575,000.[
]
Oregon Institute of Science and Medicine
Robinson later moved to Oregon
Oregon ( , ) is a U.S. state, state in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States. It is a part of the Western U.S., with the Columbia River delineating much of Oregon's northern boundary with Washington (state), Washington, while t ...
and founded the Oregon Institute of Science and Medicine (OISM) there in 1980.[
Robinson is the president of the OISM,][ which is a ]501(c)(3)
A 501(c)(3) organization is a United States corporation, Trust (business), trust, unincorporated association or other type of organization exempt from federal income tax under section 501(c)(3) of Title 26 of the United States Code. It is one of ...
non-profit organization located in Cave Junction, Oregon
Cave Junction is a city in Josephine County, Oregon, United States. The city got its name by virtue of its location at the junction of Redwood Highway ( U.S. Route 199) and Caves Highway ( Oregon Route 46). As of the 2020 census, the city popula ...
. The OISM's mission statement and purpose is, "research, development, and public education on the biochemistry of molecular clocks and the degenerative diseases of aging, elementary science education, the effects of environment on health and welfare, and disaster preparedness".[ The institute faculty has included ]Salk Institute
The Salk Institute for Biological Studies is a scientific research institute in the La Jolla community of San Diego, California. The independent, non-profit institute was founded in 1960 by Jonas Salk, the developer of the polio vaccine; among th ...
biochemist
Biochemists are scientists who are trained in biochemistry. They study chemical processes and chemical transformations in living organisms. Biochemists study DNA, proteins and Cell (biology), cell parts. The word "biochemist" is a portmanteau of ...
Fred Westall, the late Nobel Prize
The Nobel Prizes ( ; ; ) are awards administered by the Nobel Foundation and granted in accordance with the principle of "for the greatest benefit to humankind". The prizes were first awarded in 1901, marking the fifth anniversary of Alfred N ...
-winning biochemist
Biochemists are scientists who are trained in biochemistry. They study chemical processes and chemical transformations in living organisms. Biochemists study DNA, proteins and Cell (biology), cell parts. The word "biochemist" is a portmanteau of ...
Robert Bruce Merrifield
Robert Bruce Merrifield (July 15, 1921 – May 14, 2006) was an American biochemist who won the Nobel Prize in Chemistry in 1984 for the invention of solid phase peptide synthesis.
Early life
He was born in Fort Worth, Texas, on 15 July 1921, ...
, and the late Manhattan Project
The Manhattan Project was a research and development program undertaken during World War II to produce the first nuclear weapons. It was led by the United States in collaboration with the United Kingdom and Canada.
From 1942 to 1946, the ...
physicist
A physicist is a scientist who specializes in the field of physics, which encompasses the interactions of matter and energy at all length and time scales in the physical universe. Physicists generally are interested in the root or ultimate cau ...
Martin Kamen
Martin David Kamen (August 27, 1913, Toronto – August 31, 2002, Montecito, California) was an American chemist who, together with Sam Ruben, co-discovered the synthesis of the isotope carbon-14 on February 27, 1940, at the University of ...
.
The OISM website states that "several members of the Institute's staff are also well known for their work on the Petition Project" (the Oregon Petition), and that the petition has "more than 31,000" signatures by scientists. Robinson asserted in 2008 that the petition has over 31,000 signatories, with 9,000 of these holding a PhD degree. Most signatories with a PhD hold their degree in engineering. The 2009 report of the Nongovernmental International Panel on Climate Change (NIPCC)—a group that "disputes the reality of man-made climate change"—lists 31,478 degreed signatories, including 9,029 with PhDs. The list has been criticized for its lack of verification, with pranksters successfully submitting the names of Charles Darwin
Charles Robert Darwin ( ; 12 February 1809 – 19 April 1882) was an English Natural history#Before 1900, naturalist, geologist, and biologist, widely known for his contributions to evolutionary biology. His proposition that all speci ...
, a member of the Spice Girls
The Spice Girls are an English girl group formed in 1994, consisting of Mel B ("Scary Spice"), Melanie C ("Sporty Spice"), Emma Bunton ("Baby Spice"), Geri Halliwell ("Ginger Spice"), and Victoria Beckham ("Posh Spice"). They have sold over 10 ...
and characters from ''Star Wars
''Star Wars'' is an American epic film, epic space opera media franchise created by George Lucas, which began with the Star Wars (film), eponymous 1977 film and Cultural impact of Star Wars, quickly became a worldwide popular culture, pop cu ...
'', and getting them briefly included on the list. A recent revisiting of his report found his chart analysis to be inaccurate whe
updated with recent years' data
According to Bloomberg.com, starting in about 2013 Robinson began collecting "thousands of vials of human urine" which he claims hold "the key to extending the human life span and wresting control of medicine from what he calls the 'medical-industrial-government complex'." As of early 2016, there were 14,000 urine samples stored in freezers at the OISM lab. According to Zachary Mider of Bloomberg, it is "hard to judge the credibility" of Robinson's claims. Although Robinson earned a Ph.D. from the University of California, San Diego in the 1960s, "he hasn't published peer-reviewed research on diagnostic medicine in decades." In reply Robinson stated, "we've completed experiments here, which we could easily publish, but we want to wait until they are perfect."[
In his monthly newsletter "Access to Energy", Robinson has reported on experiments showing that ionizing radiation can be good for you, advocates for a revival of cheap nuclear power, attacks climate science as a "false religion" that will enslave mankind, and condemns public education, instead favoring home schooling.][ "Access to Energy" was originated by ]Petr Beckmann
Petr Beckmann (November 13, 1924 – August 3, 1993) was a professor of electrical engineering and advocate of libertarianism and nuclear power who disputed Albert Einstein's theory of relativity and other accepted theories in modern physics.
Bi ...
; Robinson began writing it with the September 1993 issue.
OISM also publishes material relating to civil defense and disaster preparedness.[
]
Political career
2010 congressional election
In May 2010, Robinson won the Republican primary for Oregon's 4th congressional district
Oregon's 4th congressional district represents the southern half of Oregon's coastal counties, including Coos County, Oregon, Coos, Curry County, Oregon, Curry, Lincoln County, Oregon, Lincoln, Lane County, Oregon, Lane, and Benton County, Or ...
, taking 79% of the vote to businesswoman Jaynee Germond's 20%. He faced Democratic incumbent Peter DeFazio
Peter Anthony DeFazio ( ; born May 27, 1947) is an American politician who served as the U.S. representative for from 1987 to 2023. He is a member of the Democratic Party and is a founder of the Congressional Progressive Caucus. A native of Mas ...
in the November 2010 general election.[
Six weeks before the election, $600,000 worth of TV advertisements started to appear in the district, portraying his opponent as "a puppet of the Democratic leadership". It was later revealed that the advertisements, reportedly a surprise to Robinson, were paid for by conservative billionaire hedge fund manager Robert Mercer.][ (Mercer provided "six-figure financial support" to Robinson again in 2012 and 2014.)][
Robinson was defeated by 145,091 votes (53.6%) to 120,307 (44.5%) but it was the "best performance" by a Republican in the district "in decades".][ Robinson vowed to try again in 2012.
]
2012 congressional election
Robinson, running unopposed, became the Republican nominee for Oregon's 4th congressional district, to again face incumbent DeFazio, who had defeated Robinson's son Matthew in a landslide in the Democratic primary. In the general election, DeFazio defeated Robinson by 212,866 votes (59.1%) to 140,549 (39%).
2014 congressional election
Robinson ran for a third time for Oregon's 4th congressional district in 2014. He was unopposed in the Republican primary and faced another rematch in the general election with DeFazio, who was unopposed in the Democratic primary. Robinson lost the election with 116,534 votes to DeFazio's 181,624.
2016 congressional election
Robinson ran for a fourth time for Oregon's 4th congressional district in 2016. He ran against Jo Rae Perkins, a former Linn County Republican party chairwoman, in the primary election and won with 67 percent of the vote. In the general election on November 8. Robinson once again faced DeFazio, who won his primary election with 93 percent of the vote. DeFazio prevailed once more, 55%-40%.
2018 congressional election
Robinson challenged DeFazio for a fifth time in Oregon's 4th congressional district. He faced four primary challengers this time, Perkins, again, plus former Eugene mayoral candidate Stefan Strek, Curry County Commissioner Court Boice, and Michael Polen. Robinson won the nomination with 45.7% of the vote.
DeFazio defeated Robinson 56%-41%.
2020 State senate election
Robinson filed to run once again against DeFazio but dropped out on the final day of the registration period to run for Oregon State Senate District 2, instead, to replace retiring Republican incumbent Herman Baertschiger Jr. Robinson defeated his Democratic challenger, Jerry Allen, with 64.01% to 33.52%.
Political positions
In addition to asserting that global warming
Present-day climate change includes both global warming—the ongoing increase in global average temperature—and its wider effects on Earth's climate system. Climate change in a broader sense also includes previous long-term changes ...
is a hoax
A hoax (plural: hoaxes) is a widely publicised falsehood created to deceive its audience with false and often astonishing information, with the either malicious or humorous intent of causing shock and interest in as many people as possible.
S ...
, Robinson opposes abortion and supports gun rights,[ cutting taxes, increasing border security and building new power plants.][ He argues for balancing the federal budget, defunding earmarks and ending special-interest influence in Washington.][ He also supports ending the ]Federal Reserve System
The Federal Reserve System (often shortened to the Federal Reserve, or simply the Fed) is the central banking system of the United States. It was created on December 23, 1913, with the enactment of the Federal Reserve Act, after a series of ...
. Robinson is against bailouts to Wall Street banks. He also supports a strong national defense, but with a more restrained foreign policy. Robinson is a signatory to '' A Scientific Dissent from Darwinism'', a petition circulated by the Discovery Institute to promote the pseudoscientific
Pseudoscience consists of statements, beliefs, or practices that claim to be both scientific and factual but are incompatible with the scientific method. Pseudoscience is often characterized by contradictory, exaggerated or unfalsifiable cl ...
intelligent design
Intelligent design (ID) is a pseudoscientific argument for the existence of God, presented by its proponents as "an evidence-based scientific theory about life's origins".#Numbers 2006, Numbers 2006, p. 373; " Dcaptured headlines for it ...
theory.
Oregon State University controversy
In 2011, Robinson alleged that Oregon State University (OSU) was part of a conspiracy to retaliate against him for his political activism by expelling his three children, all of whom were graduate students there. When asked what proof he has of the university discriminating against his children, Robinson stated, "I don't have definitive proof, ..That is what I believe. Basically, I know what happened. I cannot tell you the motives of the people doing it." In a statement, OSU would not comment on matters concerning the students without their consent, but declared all the other claims, including those about the faculty, to be unfounded.[
]
2023 unexcused absences
While participating in a Republican-led walkout in May 2023 Robinson reached the 10 unexcused absence threshold set by measure 113, disqualifying him from running for reelection after his current term ends. In October the Oregon Supreme Court
The Oregon Supreme Court (OSC) is the highest State court (United States), state court in the U.S. state of Oregon. The only court that may reverse or modify a decision of the Oregon Supreme Court is the Supreme Court of the United States. agreed to hear a challenge to the measure. On February 1, 2024, the Court unanimously ruled against the Republican Senators, confirming Robinson's disqualification after the end of his term in January 2025. Robinson was succeeded in the Senate by his son, Noah Robinson.
Personal life
Robinson is a non-denominational Christian and lives in Cave Junction, Oregon
Cave Junction is a city in Josephine County, Oregon, United States. The city got its name by virtue of its location at the junction of Redwood Highway ( U.S. Route 199) and Caves Highway ( Oregon Route 46). As of the 2020 census, the city popula ...
.[ He was married to Laurelee Robinson until her death in 1988.][ His six children were all home schooled.][ As a hobby, Robinson buys unwanted pipe organs from churches and reassembles them on his property.][ Among the instruments in his collection is the organ formerly owned by famed Christian Gospel singer ]George Beverly Shea
George Beverly Shea (February 1, 1909 – April 16, 2013) was a Canadian-born American gospel singer and hymn composer. Shea was often described as "America's beloved gospel singer"Michael Ireland, "America's 'Beloved Gospel Singer,' George Beve ...
.
Electoral history
Selected publications
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*
*
*
*
*
References
External links
Oregon Institute of Science and Medicine (OISM)
{{DEFAULTSORT:Robinson, Arthur
1942 births
Living people
American biochemists
Candidates in the 2018 United States House of Representatives elections
Nondenominational Christianity
Oregon Republican Party chairs
People from Josephine County, Oregon
Republican Party Oregon state senators
21st-century members of the Oregon Legislative Assembly
University of California, San Diego alumni