Lawrence Hall was packed on Wednesday, Sept. 17. The room was so full, students and faculty began moving extra chairs in. On the refreshment table, only a few discarded chunks of honeydew remained. Point Park University Professor of Psychology, Dr. Brent Robbins, stood at the front of the room behind a podium, beaming.

On October 21, 2024, Robbins was diagnosed with stage 4 pancreatic cancer. Notorious for being aggressive and unforgiving, only 12% of people diagnosed will live 5 years after their diagnosis.
Robbins’ doctor ordered a CT scan and advised him to go to the ER for it, since many insurance plans don’t cover the procedure otherwise.

The young, resident doctor at the ER who delivered Robbin’s the news went on to share that his mother had just died of pancreatic cancer.

“All of the sudden, the therapist in me came out. I was empathizing with him, which was nice because I forgot for a minute that was going on with me,” Robbins said.

Despite the bleakness of his situation, Robbins remains devoted to what he has done at the university since 1998: teaching students to see the message of hope embedded within the existential philosophy through which he views the world.

“I want to prepare for the worst,” Robbins said. “And I want to hope.”

Although the subject of the lecture was heavy, Robbins effortlessly wove in jokes and lighthearted comments, leaving everyone in attendance laughing through their tears.

Robbins was born in Dormont, PA, to two avid readers. His mother studied sociology, and his father was an English major. He remembers his father reading Carl Jung and Joseph Campbell, academics who he would grow to revere.

“I lost my father in 2017,” Robbins said. “He was my best friend. He was the only person who would listen to what I had to say without waiting to talk. He was my biggest fan.

After the death of his father, Robbins realized he wasn’t afraid of death anymore.
“If he can do it, I can do it,” Robbins said.

Along with Jung, Robbins referenced the philosophies of Jean-Paul Sartre, Martin Heidegger, and Maurice Merleau-Ponty.

“Their perspectives emphasize the interplay of temporality, embodiment and freedom in shaping human existence by viewing death and suffering as integral to the cyclical nature of life,” Robbins said.

Robbins began his academic journey at Point Park as a film student, but a single psychology course sparked a passion that would shape the rest of his career. He went on to earn a psychology degree from Webster University in St. Louis before returning to Pittsburgh to pursue a Ph.D at Duquesne University. There, he refined his focus, embracing the practice of humanistic, existential and phenomenological psychology.

Through this lens, Robbins developed the doctoral program in Clinical Psychology currently offered at Point Park.

“I love it here,” Robbins said in an email. “I have so many wonderful colleagues. I love our students. They are intellectual, curious and willing to explore challenging concepts.

Along with his career, Robbins finds incredible joy in family life.

He and his wife have been married for 29 years. They have two sons together, Dean and Dominic. Dean is a graduate of Point Park’s psychology program.

“The best part of life with my family is dinners together,” Robbins said in an email. “We have a lot of high-level intellectual conversations about life, philosophy, religion, art, film, you name it. We laugh a lot together.

It appears Robbins has the unknown figured out, but it wasn’t an easy journey.

“This takes work, psychological and spiritual, to work through this anticipatory grief,” Robbins said. “Appreciate the possibilities we have. We can use what remains to nurture our relationships with others.”
With a stage four pancreatic cancer diagnosis, Robbins remains steadfast in his commitment to inspiring hope within the hearts and minds of students and faculty alike.

“I say this all under the ages of ‘this is how you help people who are dying of cancer, but it’s a little bit of a head fake, because it’s actually something you do to help anybody, because we’re all dying,” Robbins said.
The room was silent, the audience hanging onto every word, captivated by the honesty, humor, and intellect he wove into such a devastating story.

Robbins closed his talk with a sentiment that embodies everything he stands for.

“I want to see you. Come visit me. I love you,” Robbins said.