Herman earned a Bachelor of Science degree from the Illinois Institute of Technology, a Medical Doctor degree from the University of Illinois College of Medicine in Chicago, and served his medical internship at Walter Reed Army Medical Center in Washington D.C.[1] Herman was married to Yaye F. Tokuyama Herman and was his lifetime scientific collaborator.
[1] Herman served in World War II as an enlisted person for two years,[2] and spent most of his life on active duty in the United States Army Medical Corps.
[3] In 1980, Herman edited Principles of Metabolic Control in Mammalian Systems, with co-authors Robert M. Cohen and Pamela D. McNamara of the University of Pennsylvania.
In chapter one, entitled The Principles of Metabolic Control, Herman wrote his propositions called the five "Fundamental Theorems of Theoretical Biology.
[6] In 1980, Robert H. Herman was awarded the United States Army Legion of Merit.