Brian Dobson FSA (13 September 1931 – 19 July 2012) was an English archaeologist, teacher and scholar.

He fell under the influence of Eric Birley, who supervised his PhD on the role of primipilares in the Roman Army.

From 1955 to 1957 he did his National Service in the army, learning Russian at Bodmin and Crail and serving in the Intelligence Corps.

In 1957-59 he worked at the University of Birmingham as research fellow, there meeting and becoming influenced by the adult education tutor Graham Webster.

[citation needed] He worked closely with David Breeze (chief inspector of ancient monuments for historic Scotland and visiting professor at Durham University since 1994) on their joint studies in aspects of Hadrian's Wall and produced one of the most influential texts on the subject, still in print today.