Areas of Expertise (8)
History of the Space Age
Florida's Governors
D-Day
American Military Leadership
Civil War
World War II
Governor Dan McCarty
Ernest Hemingway
About
Dr. Robert Taylor's research focuses on 19th- and 20th-century America, the American South, Florida history, U.S. military history, the history of the Space Age, and 20th-century Europe.
Dr. Taylor is currently a member of the Board of Directors of the Florida Humanities Council.
He is also president emeritus of the Florida Historical Society, an advisory board member for H-Florida, and a board official in the Selective Service System.
Dr. Taylor resides in Palm Bay and St. Simons Island, Georgia, with his wife Virginia and a house full of pets.
Media Assets
Documents:
Audio/Podcasts:
Media Appearances (4)
Biden to Nominate Ex-Florida Sen. Bill Nelson to Lead NASA
Spectrum News tv
2021-03-18
"I think former Sen. Nelson would be an inspired choice," said Dr. Robert Taylor, a professor of history at the Florida Institute of Technology in Melbourne, which is along the state's Space Coast. Taylor cited Nelson's extensive experience in Washington, his lengthy record of space legislation, "and three, he's actually been in space," he said.
SpaceX will team up with Armed Forces for War Games in April
Fox 35 tv
2020-02-26
"In the military art, you never want to look up and see the enemy, you want to look down, so looking up into space, we need to have literally the high ground," said Dr. Robert Taylor, who teaches air and space history at Florida Tech.
COVID-19 masks generate polarizing debates in cities, towns across Brevard County
Florida Today print
2020-08-11
“It is an amazing thing. It’s an indicator, I think, of how polarized we are politically as a people. We can get into political street fights over wearing a medical mask," said Robert Taylor, a history professor and associate dean at the Florida Institute of Technology. "It’s a symbol of how far apart we are."
From Jeff Bezos to today’s NASA engineers, Apollo 11 inspired a generation to go to space
Orlando Sentinel print
2019-07-15
Florida’s growing space industry is now, in large part, led by the young people that watched the Apollo 11 astronauts in awe, from the rank-and-file workers putting satellites into space to billionaires plotting ambitious trips beyond the pull of Earth’s gravity. “People, especially young people, wanted to be a part of it,” said Robert Taylor, a history professor at the Florida Institute of Technology in Melbourne. “They wanted to have the same kind of trajectory the astronauts they were watching on television did."
Education (3)
University of South Florida: M.A. 1985
University of South Florida: B.A. 1983
Florida State University: Ph.D., American History 1991
Links (2)
Affiliations (3)
- Florida Humanities Council : Board of Directors Member
- Florida Historical Society : President Emeritus
- H-Florida : Advisory Board Member
Accomplishments (2)
Kerry Bruce Clark Award for Excellence in Teaching (professional)
2003-2004
Florida Tech Alumni Association Award (professional)
2009
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