Rich Roberts received his undergradutate and law degrees from the University of Wisconsin. He graduated from the George Washington University School of Medicine and completed a family practice residency at UCLA-Santa Monica Hospital Medical Center. From 1983 to 1987, he was a rural family physician in Darlington, Wisconsin,while teaching part-time in the DFM. He joined the DFM full-time in January 1987 and was promoted to professor in 1994. He served as interim chair of the DFM from 1992 to 1993.

A family physician and attorney, Dr. Roberts has practiced in Belleville, a rural community of 1900, since 1987. He provides the full scope of family medicine services: he delivers babies, cares for patients of all ages, performs endoscopy and minor surgery, and attends patients in the hospital, including those in intensive care units.

At the international level, Dr. Roberts serves on the Executive (Board of Directors) and is President-Elect of the World Organization of Family Doctors (Wonca). He has led U.S. delegations to Brazil, Uzbekistan, and Vietnam. He has been a member of several U.S. delegations to WHO International Consultations on urinary health.

Professor Roberts is a member of the Board of Governors of the National Patient Safety Foundation and the National Advisory Council of the California Health Benefits Review Program. He is a member of the Boards of the American Academy of Family Physicians Foundation and the Interstate Postgraduate Medical Association.

A past president of the American Academy of Family Physicians (AAFP) and the Wisconsin Medical Society, Dr. Roberts has worked closely with a wide range of physician groups, including service as a director on the boards of the American Medical Accreditation Program (AMAP) and the Commission on Laboratory Accreditation (COLA). He was a member of the Medical Advisory Panel to the Technology Evaluation Center of the Blue Cross Blue Shield Association. He has been a member of guidelines panels of the American Academy of Family Physicians, American College of Cardiology, the American Urological Association (AUA), the United States Agency for Health Care Policy and Research (AHCPR), and the World Health Organization (WHO). He has served as a consultant to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, and the Wisconsin Medical Examining Board.

Professor Roberts' scholarship has focused on the development of decision support tools to improve clinical care, especially in the areas of pain, risk management, and reproductive and urinary health. He has authored over 130 publications and given more than 500 presentations to international, national, and regional audiences.

Dr. Roberts was a fellow of the Kellogg National Fellowship Program. He is a fellow of the American Academy of Family Physicians and the American College of Legal Medicine.