Rob’s path into lighting design began after obtaining a Master of Fine Arts degree in Interior Environments from Virginia Commonwealth University where, soon after graduating, he served as Administrative Director for the Department of Interior Design. In this role, he taught an introductory lighting class to interior design students which afforded him the superb opportunity to discover the wonders of light and to further study the impacts of lighting in interior environments.

Within this academic context, Rob’ curiosity of lighting’s intimate connection to the human lived experience was further nurtured through many professional lighting design conferences and workshops, including the Lighting Design Intensive Workshop at Parsons The New School at which he was convinced to fully pursue lighting design. During his time at VCU, Rob also served as a member of the City of Richmond’s Urban Design Committee, gaining valuable knowledge of lighting in exterior environments and helping to update their lighting guidelines for exterior LED lighting.

In 2018, Rob made the shift from academia to the practice of lighting design, joining Gilmore Lighting Design in Bethesda, Maryland, and joining Hartranft Lighting Design in 2023, to which he brings a range of lighting design experience, including residential, corporate interiors, and exterior site and landscaping.