His father, a chemist, directed the Jackson Laboratory at DuPont, and played a leading part in the production of sulphanilamide family of drugs and anthrimides to make inks, which had stopped being shipped from Germany during World War II.
As his brother, John Frank, and two sisters, Dorothy Jane and Irene Celeste, had left home, Robert grew up with much time for reading and exploration.
Robert finished his graduate studies early from Stanford University with a master's degree and, with Barbara, headed South to teach at Stillman College, in Tuscaloosa, Alabama from 1964 to 1966.
As the first faculty member in the Physics Department, Robert gained direct teaching experience and mentored several students who went onto graduate studies in the North.
While he did research at MIT, he accepted a part-time instructor job at Wellesley College, to cover the high cost of tuition and the arrival of his first son, Dylan C. Tinker in 1968.
While concurrently teaching physics, Robert took a freelance position as curriculum writer and consultant for the Technical Education Research Centers[4] in Cambridge, Massachusetts.
During his tenure, the organization grew from six staff to 100 full-time and successfully initiated a series of projects that marked TERC's transition from postsecondary technical education to K-12 science.
In the '80's, Robert Tinker developed the idea of equipping computers with sensors (probes for real-time measurements) and of using the network for collaborative student data sharing and investigations.
His early work at Concord pioneered applications of portable computers to education and the use of the Web for inquiry-based professional development and teaching.