Warner, Robert C.

Robert Combs Warner was a professor of journalism at the University of Wyoming during the 1970s and 1980s. He was also an authority on artist Alfred Jacob Miller and author of the book "The Fort Laramie of Alfred Jacob Miller", which was published in 1979. Warner also researched the history of newspapers and broadcast journalism in Wyoming.

Robert Combs Warner was born May 22, 1925 in Douglas, Wyoming. He graduated from Converse County High School in 1943 and then served his country in the U.S. Navy during World War II, receiving the Purple Heart. After the war, he returned to his family’s Converse County ranch, and by 1954 was ranch manager running both cattle and sheep.

In June 1962, Warner sold the ranch and moved to Laramie to start summer school at the University of Wyoming. He received his B.A. with honors in journalism and English from U.W. in 1966, and his M.A. in American studies in 1973. He began lecturing at U.W. in 1971 and was promoted to assistant professor of journalism in 1975. He became tenured in 1977 and served as acting department head from 1980 to 1981. Warner received many awards, among them the AMOCO Outstanding Teaching Award in 1975 and the Society of Professional Journalists, Sigma Delta Chi, Distinguished Campus Advisor Award in 1979. He was a member of the Wyoming Press Association.

Robert C. Warner researched the history of newspapers and broadcast journalism in Wyoming. He was also an expert on the paintings of Alfred Jacob Miller (1810-1874), who was best known as the artist of the Rocky Mountain fur trade. In 1979, he published a book on this topic, “The Fort Laramie of Alfred Jacob Miller,” based on his 1973 master’s thesis.

Warner was married to Georgie Bell. He died in December, 1988 of a self-inflicted gunshot wound.