Robert E. Hemenway was born on August 10th, 1941, in Nebraska. He earned a B.A. in English from the University of Nebraska at Omaha in 1963, an M.A from Kent State University in 1965, and his PhD, also from Kent State University, in 1966.

His first teaching job was in the English Department at the University of Kentucky from 1966-1968. At the University of Wyoming from 1968-1973, he taught in the American Studies program, broadening his research into African American literature generally and Zora Neale Hurston's works specifically. He returned to the University of Kentucky in 1973, serving as the Chair of the English Department from 1981 until his departure in 1986. At the University of Oklahoma from 1986-1989, he served as Dean of the College of Arts and Sciences. He returned to the University of Kentucky from 1989-1995 to serve as its Chancellor.

In 1995, Hemenway was selected as the 16th Chancellor of the University of Kansas. During his time at KU, Hemenway led efforts to separate the hospital from the Medical Center and started efforts to achieve designation as a National Cancer Institute facility, efforts which came to fruition in 2012 with the KU Med Cancer Center. Robert Hemenway retired from the KU chancellorship in 2009 and died in Lenexa, Kansas, in 2015.