Dixon Robin is a retired U.S. Department of Justice, Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) Supervisory Special Agent / Certified Fire Investigator who supervised one of ATF’s prestigious National Response Teams (NRT). During his 26-year Federal career Dixon provided expert testimony during numerous criminal trials; successfully articulating the results of his science-based investigations and showcasing his comprehensive knowledge of federal law and legal procedures. Dixon has also obtained ATF Certifications as an Incident Safety Officer, UAS Pilot, and a HAZWOPER certification to HazMat Technician Level. 

In addition to his ATF credentials, Dixon is an industry leader who currently serves as the President of the New York State Chapter of the International Association of Arson Investigators (IAAI), a 500 member professional organization. Dixon is an IAAI Certified Fire Investigator (CFI) and an IAAI Certified Instructor (CI). He is also an affiliate of the NIST’s OSAC Fire and Explosion Investigation subcommittee and a member of NAFI. Dixon holds a BA (History) and an MA (Forensics – Crime in Commerce) from The George Washington University.

During his career, Dixon worked internationally and across the country with state, local and private fire investigators on hundreds of fires, explosions and bombings. He was an integral part of the Rochester, NY Arson Task Force for over 15 years during which time he processed and investigated hundreds of local fire and explosion scenes which sadly included multiple fatal fires. 

During his years on ATF’s National Response Team, Dixon lead a veteran team of ATF Special Agents/CFIs as well as ATF subject matter experts (engineers and chemists) whose mission was to investigate large, complex fire and explosion incidents. Dixon’s team lead the investigations into the USS Bonhomme Richard (a Naval amphibious assault ship) fire; multiple arson incidents during the 2020 Minneapolis, MN civil unrest; the Austin, TX Serial Bomber; Watson Grinding & Manufacturing explosion in Houston, TX; Marcal Paper fire in Elmwood Park, NJ; and others.

Dixon’s reputation as an expert in the field of fire and explosion investigations created opportunities for him to expand into teaching. He is an accomplished educator on such topics as fire dynamics and fire investigation techniques. He has taught courses in basic and advanced fire investigation at the Federal Law Enforcement Training Center and served as an overseas instructor for the U.S. State Department in Hungary, Thailand, and the Republic of Georgia (former USSR). Dixon also served as an ATF Project Officer at the U.S. Fire Administration’s National Fire Academy and has taught there regularly for many years. He has taught several IAAI State Chapter seminars and at the IAAI International Training Conferences. He served on IAAI”s Training & Education Committee where he led the task group which designed, developed and finalized the current 40-hour Fundamentals of Fire Investigation course which is foundational to the IAAI FIT Certification.  In the private sector, Dixon has taught members of the PLRB and NYSSIU.