Professor Robyn Pitman has been a valued colleague, mentor and teacher at UBC Sociology, deeply committed to the health, wellbeing, and education of our students. We are disappointed to announce that she will be leaving us this summer but recognize and appreciate her contributions while she was here and wish her all the best in her next professional step.
Dr. Robyn Pitman
Robyn joined us in 2018 as a Lecturer in Family Studies and Sociology. Before coming to UBC, she taught at the University of Guelph in the Adult Development and Child, Youth, and Family programs. She also completed her PhD in Family Relations and Human Development at the University of Guelph.
Always a popular instructor, Robyn put an immense amount of care and attention into all of the courses she taught. Students will particularly miss her Relationship Development course (Family Studies 314) where students worked in pairs to create Infographic Posters showcasing one of the many relationship concepts discussed over the term.
Over the past year, she worked diligently to organize a Health and Wellness page for the department website, which included resources for students, faculty, and staff, an adorable Pets of Sociology page, and 3×3 video series.
During the past year, her research with at-home pregnancy kit producer First Response looked at how COVID-19 impacted couples’ decisions to start a family and how families responded to the pandemic. In 2018, she co-published an article with Leon Kuczynski on children’s strategies for expressing resistance during the period of middle childhood.
Robyn was regularly accompanied by her Golden Retriever Collie puppy, Finn. As we return to in-person learning, our students will miss “Tuesday’s with Finn” – a time she organized for our community to de-stress and enjoy a fun puppy playtime.
We wish Robyn well in all her future endeavors.
