Robert Gramling was born February 23, 1943, to Robert Burke and Anne Gilchrist Gramling. He was married to Eileen Daly of Lafayette, Louisiana. He passed away November 7, 2014, in Lafayette, Louisiana.

Gramling was a native of Florida and received his Ph.D. in Sociology from Florida State University. He moved to South Louisiana, where he spent 40 years at the University of Louisiana at Lafayette (formerly the University of Southwestern Louisiana), helping thousands of students learn to love Sociology as much as he did. Gramling loved Louisiana. He believed it was a special, unique place where culture and environment interacted to produce a region rich in resources and opportunities, yet also full of potential for disaster. He dedicated much of his life to studying the impacts this ultimately had in Louisiana. He wanted to make a difference and because of this he continually published books and articles on the environment and energy, disaster dynamics and policy in coastal Louisiana.

He was an avid fisherman and woodworker. He dedicated much of his life to studying the impacts this ultimately had on Louisiana. He was the author of several publications.