Over the years, Dr. Robert Horton has been a mentor to students, a volunteer with the College of Dentistry, a fund-raiser for local and regional university campaigns, and a supporter of Ohio State athletics. The long-time Cincinnati resident has served the Greater Cincinnati Alumni Club for many years, including terms as president, treasurer, and chair of numerous committees. His moral and financial support have helped sustain and revitalize the club, leading it to create a Best Buckeye Award in his name.

As an Ohio State undergraduate, Horton was a member of the golf and wrestling teams. After graduation, he supported Ohio State athletics in many ways, raising funds for the W.W. Hayes Chair in Military Security Studies and serving on the board of the Woody Hayes Foundation. Horton believes that participation in athletics affects young people positively. This belief has led to his sponsorship of scholarships, as well as many hours of mentoring for student athletes. He also has served as a board member of the local chapter of the National Football Foundation and the College Football Hall of Fame.

Professionally, Horton's service to dentistry is well known. After receiving both his bachelor's and D.D.S. degrees from Ohio State, he was an oral surgeon in private practice from 1955 until the early 1990s. After a brief retirement, he was appointed director of oral and maxillofacial surgery at the University of Cincinnati Medical Center. Currently, he is assistant chief emeritus of that division and emeritus professor of clinical surgery.

Horton has served as an officer of the Ohio State Dental Society of Anesthesiologists, president of the Cincinnati Society of Oral Surgeons, vice regent of the International College of Dentists, and a Fellow of the Pierre Fauchard Academy, an international honorary dental organization. His tenure as president and finance chair of the Cincinnati Dental Association was credited with creating a lasting legacy of fiduciary responsibility. He also was active in the association's political action committee, giving the profession a voice in government.

Beyond the dental profession, Horton has served his community as a board member of the American Cancer Society. Married for more than 50 years, he is the father of four Ohio State alumni. Horton has been described as the embodiment of Ralph Mershon's spirit-an "organized force for the university" and its ideals of service and integrity.