Robertson won the Balgonie Gold Medal in 1885 as Dux of Madras Academy, Cupar, one of the two schools that amalgamated to form Bell Baxter in 1889.

After leaving school he attended St Andrews University, where he graduated in both Arts and Science.

His work as Director of Explosives Research during the Great War was recognised with the award of a KBE.

[4] He came out of retirement during the Second World War to head the Armaments Research Department which had been relocated to Swansea University's laboratories.

[1][6] In 1944, he was awarded the Royal Society's Davy Medal "[i]n recognition of his researches on explosives, analytical methods, the internal structure of diamond, and infra-red absorption spectra".