After attending the University of Richmond as an undergraduate and earning a pharmacy degree at the Medical College of Virginia in 1933, Robins built the company up to a Richmond-based multinational giant that manufactured, among other products, Robitussin cough syrup and ChapStick lip balm.
Robins served as trustee at the University of Richmond starting in 1951.
By 1969, the university was a small, liberal arts school strongly affiliated with the Southern Baptist church and was poised at bankruptcy.
Robins offered what was the largest gift to any university, $50 million in A.H. Robins common stock and $10 million in cash contingent on matching gifts.
[2][3][4][5] The university's executives, headed by then-president E. Bruce Heilman and Vice President H. Gerald Quigg, directed the successful effort,[6] ultimately leading to a $60 million addition to the university's endowment.