09/10/2026
๐ฆ๐ผ๐บ๐ฒ ๐ฝ๐ฒ๐ผ๐ฝ๐น๐ฒ ๐น๐ฒ๐ฎ๐๐ฒ ๐๐ต๐ฒ๐ถ๐ฟ ๐๐ผ๐ฟ๐ธ ๐ฎ๐ ๐๐ต๐ฒ ๐ผ๐ณ๐ณ๐ถ๐ฐ๐ฒ. ๐๐ฟ. ๐ฅ๐ผ๐ฏ๐ฏ๐ ๐ฉ๐ฎ๐ป ๐ฆ๐ฐ๐ถ๐๐ฒ๐ฟ ๐ท๐๐๐ ๐๐ฐ๐ฎ๐น๐ฒ๐ ๐ถ๐ ๐๐ฝ.๐ฌ๐ฟ
He may have traded the classroom microscopes for university labs, but he is still masterfully tuning biological systemsโwhether itโs researching cellular communities at UAB or meticulously designing freshwater aquascapes and community aquariums right at home!
โข ๐ ๐ง๐ต๐ฒ ๐๐ฐ๐ฎ๐ฑ๐ฒ๐บ๐ถ๐ฐ ๐ง๐ฟ๐ฎ๐ถ๐น: Trinity Lutheran School '97, Nansemond-Suffolk Academy '01, UVA B.S. Chemical Engineering '05, EVMS Ph.D. Biomedical Sciences '19.
โข ๐ฆ ๐ง๐ต๐ฒ ๐๐๐ฟ๐ฟ๐ฒ๐ป๐ ๐๐ผ๐ผ๐ฟ๐ฑ๐ถ๐ป๐ฎ๐๐ฒ๐: Assistant Professor in the Department of Cell, Developmental, and Integrative Biology at the University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB), as well as an Associate Scientist at the UAB Nephrology Research & Training Center within the Heersink School of Medicine!
โข ๐งช๐ง๐ต๐ฒ ๐๐ถ๐ด ๐ช๐ถ๐ป: Recipient of the prestigious ๐ฎ๐ฌ๐ฎ๐ฒ ๐๐ฎ๐ฟ๐น ๐ช. ๐๐ผ๐๐๐๐ฐ๐ต๐ฎ๐น๐ธ ๐ฅ๐ฒ๐๐ฒ๐ฎ๐ฟ๐ฐ๐ต ๐ฆ๐ฐ๐ต๐ผ๐น๐ฎ๐ฟ ๐๐ฟ๐ฎ๐ป๐ for his project, "๐๐ฏ๐ณ๐ข๐ท๐ฆ๐ญ๐ช๐ฏ๐จ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐๐ช๐ญ๐ช๐ข๐ณ๐บ ๐๐ณ๐ช๐ท๐ฆ๐ณ ๐ฐ๐ง ๐๐ฐ๐ญ๐บ๐ค๐บ๐ด๐ต๐ช๐ค ๐๐ช๐ฅ๐ฏ๐ฆ๐บ ๐๐ช๐ด๐ฆ๐ข๐ด๐ฆ."
โข ๐ต๐ง๐ต๐ฒ ๐ก๐ผ๐๐๐ฎ๐น๐ด๐ถ๐ฎ: Heโd teleport straight to the cafeteria under the chapel right before Lessons & Carols to feel that buzzing excitement again. He also fondly recalls his daily commutes and school lunches with Mrs. Hampton, whose legendary warmth as both a bus driver and cafeteria server extended to every single student she encountered. ๐๐
โข ๐ญ ๐ง๐ต๐ฒ ๐๐ฎ๐๐ผ๐ฟ๐ถ๐๐ฒ ๐ ๐ฒ๐บ๐ผ๐ฟ๐: Going on the 8th-grade class trip to New York City. Initially annoyed that they were going to see ๐๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐๐ฉ๐ข๐ฏ๐ต๐ฐ๐ฎ ๐ฐ๐ง ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐๐ฑ๐ฆ๐ณ๐ข (asking himself, "who wants to see opera?"), his mind was completely changed from the very first few moments of the show, leaving him totally enthralled.
โข ๐ฒ ๐ง๐ต๐ฒ ๐ง๐๐ฆ ๐๐ผ๐๐ป๐ฑ๐ฎ๐๐ถ๐ผ๐ป: If you caught our science post this past Friday about our Upper Schoolers learning to master microscopes, diaphragms, and pointersโRobby is the perfect proof of where those foundational lab skills can lead! He traces his scientific roots directly back to Mrs. Liaโs (Ms. Daly's) class and Ms. Butler's anatomy lessons.
He also credits Mrs. Thompson for keeping English and Spanish classes incredibly vibrantโwhether bringing joyful energy by dancing the Macarena during school elections, or assigning Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry, a foundational summer read that profoundly opened his eyes to diverse perspectives.
โข ๐ผ ๐ง๐ต๐ฒ ๐๐๐ฟ๐ฟ๐ฒ๐ป๐ ๐ฃ๐ฎ๐๐๐ถ๐ผ๐ป: Transitioning from a student at TLS to an educator and mentor in higher education. Robby's students and trainees are what he is most proud of today.
โข ๐ก ๐๐ฑ๐๐ถ๐ฐ๐ฒ ๐๐ผ ๐ง๐๐ฆ ๐ฆ๐๐๐ฑ๐ฒ๐ป๐๐: "๐๐ฐ๐ค๐ถ๐ด ๐ฐ๐ฏ ๐ฎ๐ฆ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฐ๐ฅ๐ด, ๐ฏ๐ฐ๐ต ๐ฎ๐ฆ๐ฎ๐ฐ๐ณ๐ช๐ป๐ข๐ต๐ช๐ฐ๐ฏ. ๐๐ง ๐บ๐ฐ๐ถ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ช๐ฏ๐ฌ ๐ค๐ณ๐ช๐ต๐ช๐ค๐ข๐ญ๐ญ๐บ ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ค๐ญ๐ฆ๐ข๐ณ๐ญ๐บ, ๐บ๐ฐ๐ถ ๐ค๐ข๐ฏ ๐ค๐ฐ๐ฎ๐ฆ ๐ต๐ฐ ๐ข๐ฏ ๐ข๐ฏ๐ด๐ธ๐ฆ๐ณ ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ฃ๐ฆ๐ญ๐ช๐ฆ๐ท๐ฆ ๐ช๐ฏ ๐บ๐ฐ๐ถ๐ณ๐ด๐ฆ๐ญ๐ง ๐ฎ๐ฐ๐ณ๐ฆ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ข๐ฏ ๐ช๐ง ๐บ๐ฐ๐ถ ๐ซ๐ถ๐ด๐ต ๐ฎ๐ฆ๐ฎ๐ฐ๐ณ๐ช๐ป๐ฆ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ข๐ฏ๐ด๐ธ๐ฆ๐ณ๐ด. ๐๐ญ๐ด๐ฐ, ๐ณ๐ฆ๐ฎ๐ฆ๐ฎ๐ฃ๐ฆ๐ณ ๐บ๐ฐ๐ถ๐ณ '๐ธ๐ฉ๐บ' โ ๐ธ๐ฉ๐บ ๐ฅ๐ฐ ๐บ๐ฐ๐ถ ๐ฅ๐ฐ ๐ธ๐ฉ๐ข๐ต ๐บ๐ฐ๐ถ ๐ฅ๐ฐ?"
๐งญ ๐๐๐๐๐ฎ ๐ฉ๐ค ๐จ๐ฉ๐๐ง๐ฉ ๐ฎ๐ค๐ช๐ง ๐๐๐ข๐๐ก๐ฎ'๐จ ๐๐ง๐๐ฃ๐๐ฉ๐ฎ ๐๐ค๐ช๐ง๐ฃ๐๐ฎ? See how our academic excellence and vibrant culture set the stage for future success. Learn more about enrollment and tour our campus at https://trinitynn.com/visit/.
โจ ๐ผ๐ง๐ ๐ฎ๐ค๐ช ๐ ๐๐ง๐๐ฃ๐๐ฉ๐ฎ ๐๐ช๐ฉ๐๐๐ง๐๐ฃ ๐๐๐๐ค๐ค๐ก ๐๐ง๐๐๐ก๐๐ก๐๐ฏ๐๐ง? Whether you're unlocking the mysteries of medicine like Robby or blazing your own path, we want your story! Ready to share your journey? Fill out our quick 2-minute spotlight form here: https://tinyurl.com/TLSTrailblazers