I was born and raised in North Dakota and attended college at North Dakota State University. I graduated with honors in history and was awarded one of the twenty-two National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Post-Graduate Scholarships given nationwide to scholar-athletes. I began law school at the University of Minnesota the year graduate school deferments were ended. While waiting for my time in the army I transferred to history, then student taught.
Author and Dr. Thomas Schelling
After a brief period of military service, I became a history teacher, and remained in education until 2006 when I ended my career on full disability. Ten years teaching were spent in West Fargo, North Dakota. In 1979, my wife and I moved to London, where we taught for four years, then in 1983 to Singapore where we remained until June of 2014. Along the way, I earned a master’s degree in education, and took time off from teaching to attend Harvard, and earn a Master’s in Public Administration at the Kennedy School of Government. There I studied under Tom Schelling who became a friend and the subject of two of my first three books, as well as Nobel Prize winner in Economics in 2005.
Author and resident of home for leprosy victims
During the final 23 years of my time in Singapore my most fulfilling experiences were the weekly visits to the home for victims of leprosy, bringing students from the Singapore American School to interact with the residents.
Since returning to the U.S. we have settled in Denver. Jane, my wife, has found it a welcoming place for her continuing work in fiber arts and our daughter Anne moved to near here with her family. I have taken an interest in the refugee community, offering tutoring for citizenship. She and her husband remain involved in education. I wrote a book about the many different refugee communities that have relocated here that was published by WildBlue Press. That book was Tempest-Tost.
Read Robert Dodge's Blog Posts
Robert Dodge Combines Biographies of a Norwegian Family and Immigrant Experience from the Mid-19th Century through WWII in FIELDS OF FORTUNE
Available Now About the Book In the spring of 1853, a family of eight drove their wagon to the wharf in Bergen, Norway. They unloaded their belongings alongside the other stacks labeled, AMERICA, MINNESOTA, ILLINOIS, MICHIGAN, NEW YORK CITY, CHICAGO and […]
Behind the Scenes: Front Cover Concepts Not Chosen for Robert Dodge’s FIELDS OF FORTUNE, History | Out Tomorrow!
As you know, a lot of work goes into creating a book-writing, editing, marketing, and publishing-One of the most important aspects of any book production or marketing plan is its cover. Our designer, Tatiana Vila, submitted several stunning concepts for the FIELDS OF […]
Author Robert Dodge Shares Five Things You Didn’t Know About Homesteaders in the Upper Great Plains
FILEDS OF FORTUNE: ‘Viking’ Farmers In America by author Robert Dodge details the trials and tragedies of a family of Norwegian settlers on the Great Plains, spanning Norway, immigration, adaptation to the New World. Below, the author shares five things […]
TEMPEST-TOST: The Refugee Experience Through One Community’s Prism
“Dodge takes us behind the headlines and introduces real people and their very real struggles yearning to breathe free. Page-turning, proactive and highly recommended”–Craig McGuire, author of BROOKLYN’S MOST WANTED The United States has a long history of taking in […]
Author Robert Dodge on His Writing Journey
Greetings, My name is Robert Dodge and I would like to describe the journey that brought me to writing my most recent book, Tempest-Tost. This will be my seventh book and it is a book about refugees, what they endured […]
I look forward to reading your new book, Bob. I’m most concerned with the plight of refugees in general, and most specifically the changes we are seeing in our country’s public policy towards refugees, immigrants and minorities in general.
Congratulations Bob I was in awe of all you had achieved Our daughters were friends and Kate use to be in awe of Anne’s father – not so much of her mom who was an international school principal in another school in Singapore. Like you I suffered a life threatening condition and admired you that you were able to do things I would never achieve . Glad you are writing about things close to my emotional heart. I am proud to say I once knew you and that our daughters were good friends. Thanks for sharing your history .
An amazing life. An amazing story. An amazing man.