Born in
Chicago, Illinois, Robertson attended
Northwestern University, where she was a member of
Alpha Phi sorority until she graduated in 1948. She traveled to Europe and was a reporter for
Stars and Stripes in
Germany (1948–49) and a fashion publicist in
Paris (1950). From 1951 to 1953, she was a correspondent in Germany for the
Milwaukee Journal and a feature writer and columnist — based in Paris,
Berlin,
Frankfurt and
London She formally retired from the
Times in 1988 (serving her last five years as a reporter on the cultural news desk), but continued to write for the paper until 1996. In 1994, Robertson became the first Eugene L. Roberts Visiting Professor of Journalism at the
University of Maryland. ==Other awards==