Making Waves

Bermudian Got His Bearings at Georgia Southern

For sailors, sometimes reaching a destination means taking advantage of less-than-favorable wind direction.

Like most native Bermudians, Robbie Dickinson (`90) has been sailing since he was a boy, learning the vital skills needed to reach his goals – even when the prevailing winds were against him. Later in life, he found himself fashioning the opportunities he received into a career in information technology (IT).

After completing high school, Dickinson said he lacked direction and confidence in his academic ability. But, while visiting St. Simons Island, Ga., he decided to enroll in then-Brunswick Junior College (now Coastal Community College) at the urging of his family. “Once there, I realized that I actually could succeed academically and pushed ahead,” he said.

“I was trying to continue my two favorite sports – soccer and rugby – neither of which were very popular in south Georgia. A friend who was a freshman at Georgia Southern told me about their soccer team and I visited Statesboro several times to watch them. I applied for admission at GSC the following summer.

Once at Georgia Southern, Dickinson excelled in his study of finance, earning his Bachelor of Business Administration degree. “My finance degree was invaluable in getting me started with a bank here in Bermuda, where I ended up as an equities trader,” he said. “From there, I ran a small private mutual fund management company and later moved to a local brokerage firm.

“All through these steps, however, the emergence of my other business focus and passion – technology – was gaining more and more importance,” he said. It was then that Dickinson’s company assigned him to train in IT to help create and improve computer applications for the firm.

“The light came on very quickly and I realized I had found my calling,” Dickinson said. Now network administrator at Arch Insurance in Bermuda, he oversees IT for the international reinsurance company.

“While soccer was my main impetus for applying to Georgia Southern, rugby became my sport of choice,” he said. An internationally certified coach, Dickinson has been Bermuda’s National Team youth rugby coach for several age categories and taken his team to matches in Bath, England and the Cayman Islands.

“Living in Bermuda, you usually end up being either a fisherman or a sailor,” said Dickinson, and the man who grew up in the Atlantic island nation has never lost his love for sailing. “I’ve sailed in many different classes of One Design boats, as well as larger yachts,” he said. “I have also done about 15 ocean crossings and races to and from Bermuda, including the Newport and Marion-Bermuda Yacht Races.”

While Dickinson will always be a rugger, a sailor and an IT innovator, today Dickinson’s main focus now is his family – his wife, Davina, son, Tyler and daughter, Ashley.