Photo Credit: George Kopp
Robin G. Isserles is Professor of Sociology at the Borough of Manhattan Community College, where she has been teaching for close to 30 years. Robin is a proud third generation CUNY student—her maternal grandmother attended City College downtown (later named Baruch College), both of her parents graduated from Queens College, and she earned her PhD in Sociology at the CUNY Graduate Center in 2002. She has spent her career thinking about pedagogy and classroom teaching, especially for first generation college students, and researching academic interventions designed to support these students. In addition, Robin continues her work to raise the visibility of and respect for community college faculty, staff, and students throughout academia.
With the 2021 publication of her book, The Costs of Completion: Student Success in Community College (Johns Hopkins University Press), Robin has spoken with audiences of Community College faculty, staff, administrators, college leaders, and graduate students on zoom and in person in CA, IL, IN, MA, MD, NJ, NY, and VA. The book has been positively reviewed in several publications and she has appeared on two podcasts. In April of 2021, Robin had an opportunity to meet via zoom with Dr. Jill Biden’s policy staff to discuss her book. She looks forward to more such opportunities in the future.
After the successful launch of an online series on community colleges for Teachers College Record (2022) that Robin co-edited with David Levinson, Robin and Michelle Ronda are co-editing a special print edition on community colleges for Teachers College Record, anticipated in Fall 2024.
In addition to teaching Introduction to Sociology, Urban Sociology, and the Sociology Capstone course, Robin is actively involved in her department at BMCC, as well as her union, the PSC-CUNY. She also sits on the President’s Advisory Committee on Community College Research at BMCC. Robin takes great delight in mentoring her former students as they continue with their education.
Robin is honored to be a 2024 recipient of the American Sociological Association’s Distinguished Contributions to Teaching award. The award ceremony will take place at the Annual Meeting of the American Sociological Association, August 11, 2024 in Montreal.
Robin lives in New Jersey with her family and when not teaching, writing, or researching, she enjoys biking, trail hiking, listening to live music, and wildflowers.
