Bob Dorfman was born in Pittsburgh PA, and educated through high school in the Baltimore public school system. He received his Ph. D. in physics in 1961 from the Johns Hopkins University. After three years of post-doctoral research at the Rockefeller University, he was appointed as an assistant professor in physics at the University of Maryland. He was promoted to full professor in 1972. During his time at the University of Maryland he served as the Director of the Institute for Physical Science and Technology, Dean of the College of Computer, Mathematical and Physical Sciences, and Vice President for Academic Affairs and Provost, returning to teaching and research in 1992. He retired as an emeritus professor in 2005. He is the author of over one hundred scientific papers and two books, one on statistical thermodynamic and one on chaos theory. He has been a visiting professor at the University of Utrecht, Rockefeller University, The Technion in Haifa Israel, and given invited talks at a number of scientific conferences. He is currently working on a third book, on the modern theory of fluid motions.

In addition to his scientific work, Dorfman has studied art history, specializing in 17 th century Dutch art, and has studied the Talmud at Baltimore Hebrew University, in local orthodox synagogues, and in Israel. He and his wife, Celia Shapiro, live a few months each year in Haifa, and have dual US/Israeli citizenship. He is also a poor but devoted student of the trombone.