Robert Blackburn

Robert Blackburn (26 September 1927 – 16 July 1990) was an Irish educationalist. He was an early pioneer of the International Baccalaureate Organisation (IBO) and was instrumental in establishing the first United World College (UWC) in the early 1960s. In 1968, Blackburn was appointed United World College International Secretary. Life and work Born in Kilkenny, Ireland, Robert Blackburn attended St. Columba's College, Rathfarnham and, in 1946, Trinity College, Dublin, where took a first-class degree in History with gold medal and was captain of the rugby XV. As a student, Blackburn was an active member of the United Nations Association, where he met his future wife, Esther Archer. Blackburn started his teaching career at Downside School in Stratton-on-the-Fosse, Somerset, moving to Merchant Taylors' School near Northwood, Middlesex, in 1954. During this time, he supplemented involvement in the United Nations Association and the Council for Education in World Citizenship with work in refugee camps. In 1962, he was appointed Deputy Headmaster and Director of Studies of the newly founded Atlantic College in South Wales, which was the first United World College. Blackburn said that the aim of the United World Colleges was "to further a particular educational and international philosophy that educational barriers can be broken down and that internationalism can be made effective at the 18+ age".