Society and history

Robert O. Peterson

Robert O. Peterson (1916–1994) was a San Diego restaurateur who founded Jack in the Box in the early 1950s and helped make the drive-through an American institution.

Robert of Jumièges

Robert of Jumièges, also known as Robert Champart, was a Norman Benedictine monk who became Archbishop of Canterbury in 1051, then fled to Normandy in exile in 1052.

Robert of Ketton (Robertus Ketenensis) was an English astronomer from Rutland who produced the first Latin translation of the Qur'an in 1143 for Peter the Venerable; it remained standard for four centuries.

Robert Owen

Robert Owen (1771–1858), Welsh industrialist and social reformer, owner of the New Lanark cotton mills, pioneer of factory reform, infant education, and the co-operative movement, and founder of the failed New Harmony community.

Robert P. Chamberlin

Robert P. Chamberlin, also known as Robert Porter Chamberlin, is an American jurist serving as a United States district judge for the Northern District of Mississippi since 2025.

Robert Parsons

Robert Parsons was an English Jesuit priest, superior of the English mission from 1580 to 1610, who founded seminaries in Spain and wrote on the Elizabethan succession.

Robert Payne Smith

Robert Payne Smith (1819–1895) was an Anglican theologian and Orientalist, Regius Professor of Divinity at Oxford and Dean of Canterbury, best known for compiling the Thesaurus Syriacus.

Robert Peary

Robert Edwin Peary (1856-1920), American Navy civil engineer, claimed to reach the North Pole with Matthew Henson on April 6, 1909, after a 1908-1909 Roosevelt expedition; the claim remains disputed versus Frederick Cook and was never conclusively proven.

Robert Peel

Sir Robert Peel (1788–1850), 2nd Baronet, British Conservative Prime Minister 1834–35 and 1841–46; founder of the Metropolitan Police, author of the Tamworth Manifesto, and the premier whose 1846 repeal of the Corn Laws split his party.

Robert People

Robert People, born 1979 in Baltimore, is a Democratic politician and retired Army sergeant first class who will face Republican incumbent Laurel Lee in Florida's 15th district in 2026.

Robert Pepper

Robert Pepper is a semiconductor executive who was president, CEO, and chairman of Level One Communications in Sacramento, selling the chipmaker to Intel in 1999 for about $2.2 billion.

Robert Percy Smith

Robert Percy Smith ('Bobus' Smith, 1770–1845), British lawyer, brother of Sydney Smith, Advocate-General of Bengal 1803–1810, MP for Grantham and Lincoln, and credited author of the 1813 Charter Act clause funding Indian education.

Robert Persons

Robert Persons, also spelled Parsons, was an English Jesuit who led the Jesuit mission to England from 1580 to 1610 and wrote the bestselling Christian Directory.

Robert Peston

Robert Peston (born 1960) is a British journalist, ITV News political editor since 2015, formerly BBC business and economics editor who broke the 2007 Northern Rock scoop, and author, presenter of Peston and podcast The Rest is Money.

Robert Peters (Illinois politician)

Robert Peters is an American politician serving as a Democratic Illinois state senator from the 13th district since 2019, and chair of the Senate Labor Committee.

Robert Peugeot

Robert Peugeot (born 1950) is a French heir of the Peugeot industrial dynasty who led Peugeot Invest, the family holding company, from 2002 to 2025 and is Vice Chairman of Stellantis.

Robert Pickton

Robert William "Willie" Pickton, Canadian serial killer and Port Coquitlam pig farmer, convicted in 2007 of six counts of second-degree murder, charged with 26 murders, died May 31, 2024 after a prison assault at Port-Cartier Institution.

Robert Plaga

Robert Plaga is a Czech politician of the ANO 2011 party who served as Minister of Education, Youth and Sports under Andrej Babiš from 2017 to 2021.

Robert Pohly

Robert Pohly is an American hedge fund manager and Tiger Cub who founded Samlyn Capital, a New York long/short equity firm managing about $9.7 billion in 2026.

Robert R. Anderson

Robert R. Anderson is an American business executive who co-founded KLA Instruments in Silicon Valley in 1975, serving as Chairman, CFO, and COO until 1994.

Robert R. Summerhays

Robert Rees Summerhays is an American jurist serving as a United States district judge for the Western District of Louisiana since 2018, appointed by President Donald Trump.

Róbert Ragnar Spanó

Róbert Ragnar Spanó (Robert R Spano) is an Icelandic jurist who served as a judge and President of the European Court of Human Rights from 2020 to 2022.

Robert Raikes

Robert Raikes (1735–1811) was an English newspaper proprietor, proprietor of the Gloucester Journal, credited as the founder of the Sunday-school movement, opening his first school in Gloucester in 1780.

Robert Reich

Robert B. Reich, American political economist, Clinton's Secretary of Labor 1993-1997, Dartmouth and Yale Law graduate, Berkeley Goldman School emeritus professor, author of The Work of Nations and 17 other books, Inequality Media co-founder.

Robert Ressler

Robert K. Ressler, also known for coining the term serial killer, was an FBI Behavioral Science Unit agent who interviewed imprisoned serial murderers, helped build criminal profiling and VICAP, and inspired the Mindhunter character Bill Tench.

Robert Rich Sr.

Robert Rich Sr. (1913–2006) was an American food entrepreneur in Buffalo, New York, who founded Rich Products Corporation in 1945 and developed the first frozen non-dairy whipped topping.

Robert Richter (film engineer)

Robert Richter (1899–1972) was a German engineer who co-founded ARRI, formally Arnold & Richter Cine Technik, with his schooldays partner August Arnold in Munich in 1917.

Robert Rinder

Robert Rinder, known as Judge Rinder, is a British criminal barrister specialising in international fraud and financial crime, host of the ITV reality courtroom show Judge Rinder since 2014, MBE recipient, novelist, and regular Good Morning Britain presenter.

Robert Roberson case

Robert Roberson case: Texas death row inmate Robert Leslie Roberson III, convicted of capital murder in 2003 for his daughter Nikki's death based on shaken baby syndrome, whose execution has been stayed three times amid disputed science.