Russell M. Robinson II ’54

Russ died Sept. 5, 2025.

He prepared at Woodberry Forest School and was active in football, baseball, and student government. At Princeton, he majored in English, joined Cottage Club, and participated in freshman and varsity baseball as a catcher. His suitability for the position was demonstrated when 
he won a bet by throwing a baseball over Blair Arch.

He left Princeton after his sophomore 
year, reputedly passing up a possible 
Rhodes scholarship, to attend Duke University. His intended, Sally Dalton, was then an undergraduate, and they married in September 1953. He skipped his senior year and entered the Duke Law School, where he became editor in chief of the Duke Law Journal and graduated in 1956.

The descendent of generations of distinguished attorneys and jurists, he established a firm (now Robinson Bradshaw), wrote the definitive book on North Carolina corporate law, served on numerous corporate and nonprofit boards, received many accolades, and was characterized as a “Pillar of North Carolina.”

Russ’ loyalty to Princeton never wavered. He quipped, “My only regret is that the enlightened University administration policy on student marriages came too late for me to make a Tiger out of my favorite Duke alumna.”

Russell is survived by his wife of 72 years Sally; children Cammie, Russell III, and Sally; four grandchildren; and six great-grandchildren. He was predeceased by two older brothers, John and Rod.