Dobbin grew up in Silver Spring, Maryland. Participation in sports encouraged his self-described competitive nature. Exposure to his maternal grandfather's artistic metal works made an aesthetic imprint on Dobbin’s own work, as did the subsequent visuals derived from stocking shelves in a grocery store as a teen. 

Dobbin’s academic history includes an undergraduate stint at Ohio Wesleyan University and a Bachelor of Fine Arts from the University of Maryland, College Park in urban studies. He matriculated in the fine arts programs at Indiana University and the University of Southern California. At George Washington University he earned a master of arts in education focusing on the severely emotionally disturbed adolescent population. 

Dobbin’s exhibition history included galleries on both the East and West Coasts. For years he was represented by Causey Contemporary in New York. Living and working in Frederick County, Maryland, he cites his long association with local galleries as most significant to his career.

| Education |

1995, MA, The George Washington University

1986-89, University of Southern California, MFA program (sculpture)

1981-82, Indiana University, MFA program (ceramics)

1979 BA, University of Maryland, College Park