Robert Emmett Staton is an American academic administrator and former business executive who served as the 18th president of Presbyterian College in Clinton, South Carolina.

[1] Staton served as the chairman and CEO of Colonial Life & Accident Insurance Company until the late 1990s.

[2] On January 4, 2006, Staton announced his candidacy for the position of South Carolina State Superintendent of Education.

[4] He finished second in a contested Republican primary and conceded the race on June 14, 2006, having received just shy of 35% of the vote compared to Karen Floyd's 50.5%.

Staton currently serves as an elder at Cherokee Presbyterian Church, located in Gilbert, South Carolina.