Bob was elected a Fellow of the American Society of Genealogists in 1978 and served as Secretary and President of that organization. Beginning in 1979, he served in various editorial capacities for The American Genealogist and was an editorial consultant to the New England Historical and Genealogical Register from 1989 through the end of his life.

Bob’s legacy lives on in his prolific work—15 Great Migration books, 25 volumes of The Great Migration Newsletter, and his methodology book, Elements of Genealogical Analysis. Beyond his publications, he was a gifted teacher. Bob's lectures and online courses attracted thousands, and the tours he led by land and by sea in England, the Netherlands, and Massachusetts were rich in historical insight and filled with the joy of discovery and the bonds of lifelong friendships.

Genealogists and historians alike describe Robert Charles Anderson as a “master scholar” and “the foremost authority on early immigrants to New England.” As Pulitzer Prize-winning historian David Hackett Fischer once said, Bob’s work is “one of the great historical projects of our time.”

Bob’s passion for history and genealogy, his unwavering commitment to accuracy, and his generosity in sharing knowledge have left an enduring impact on our field and on each of us who had the privilege to know and work with him.