Fall 2004
A L U M N I P R O F I L E S : L AW I N P U B L I C S E RV I C E
S E RV I N G T H E P U B L I C G O O D
R
obin Taylor JD’69 has been called a lot of things throughout his 61 years, including attorney, state senator, legislator, judge, vice mayor and assemblyman. You may also call him dedicated. Born in Washington, the 43-year resident of Ketchikan and later Wrangell, Alaska, has led a life most men would envy. He graduated from the University of Washington in 1965 and received a master’s degree from the Oregon College of Education in 1966. He was the first member of his family to attend college. When not on a college campus, his home and office for seven years was an Alaskan seine boat. “That was a wonderful opportunity to learn,” Taylor said. “I think about my close personal associations with highly skilled men and women who earn their living with their hands. That’s something many of my colleagues don’t appreciate.” Intellectual curiosity drew him to study law at Willamette University in 1966. After graduation, he returned to Ketchikan and begin a journey that has yet to end. “My family thought I was crazy coming back to such a small Alaskan town. But I was blessed with going into partnership with a gentleman quite a bit my senior. He was well known in Alaska and put me in contact with the movers and shakers. We were together until 1977 when he retired and I went on the bench.” Taylor served as district court judge from 1977-82. When he left the bench, he started his own law prac-
tice, but a life in politics was waiting. In 1984, he was elected to the House of Representatives. “I served in the House and Senate for 19 years. I’d been frustrated with the quality of representation. I felt I could do a better job, be a little kinder to people, a little more understanding and compassionate. I wanted to be a strong advocate for the issues affecting the lives of the people around me.” Taylor believes his primary achievement in those years was protecting victims rights. “I’m proud of the work I did to prevent the insurance industry from raping Alaskans. I held the wall for about 15 years and helped create the first self-insurance pools. It was a reciprocal insurance company that worked as a pool to cover worker’s comp injuries. It was tremendously successful. Later I passed legislation for similar programs for municipalities and school districts.” In 1992, Taylor was appointed to fill a vacated state Senate seat. He was elected later that year and again in 1996 and 2000. He resigned from the Alaska State Senate in the fall of 2003 and was appointed by Governor Frank Murkowski as special assistant to the southeast region transportation director. A father and grandfather, Taylor practices a philosophy he embraced as a 13-year old Boy Scout: “Our motto was always leave a place in better shape than we found it … to make it better for the next guy.” By all accounts, public servant Robin Taylor has done exactly that.
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