Ask Robert Mann, M.D., what he likes best about being a pediatrician, and he'll say "I get to come to work every day and hang out with kids. It's the best job in the world."

Growing up in Vermont, Dr. Mann had an uncle who was a country doctor. Seeing the good that his uncle was able to do for people had a major influence in his life. So, in junior high, Dr. Mann made the decision to become a physician. In medical school, Dr. Mann's first clinical rotation was in pediatrics. Working with the pediatric staff and the kids made his decision to specialize in pediatrics an easy one. Dr. Mann describes working in pediatrics as "a calling".

Dr. Mann was raised and trained in New England. He attended medical school at the University of Vermont Medical College in Burlington and finished his internship in pediatrics at the Boston Floating Hospital for Infants and Children/Tufts University Medical Center. Dr. Mann returned to Burlington to complete his residency in pediatrics at the University of Vermont Affiliated Hospitals. He is board certified by the American Board of Pediatrics.

Following his training, Dr. Mann moved to Texas as an Air Force pediatrician. In 1971, following the Air Force, he established his private practice in Arlington. He then joined the Cook Children's Healthcare System in 1995 where he remains the senior physican in the Cook Children's Mansfield location.

Dr. Mann has been the receipient of many awards. He has been awarded the Servant-Leadership Award and the 2013 Distinguished Physician Award by Cook Children's and the Humanitarian Award by the Tarrant County Medical Society. He was also named the 2014 Physician of the Year by the Arlington Medical Society and a Mom-Approved Doctor by the Dallas-Fort Worth Child Magazine.

During his career, Dr. Mann has served on numerous boards, to include, Citizens Advisory Board, Fort Worth Opera and the Arlington Civic Chorus. He has been Vice President of the Texas Baptist Men and has served with them on medical missions to the Ukraine and Turkey and has provided refugee care in Northern Iraq and Kosovo/Albania. Along with his wife, Dr. Mann also participated in a mission trip to the hill tribes in Thailand.

Dr. Mann has been a deacon and has served on numerous church boards and committees. He is the founding board member of Mission Arlington/Mission Metroplex, where a medical clinic was named in his honor. Dr. Mann served for 25 years on the Physician Resource Council of Focus on the Family, including four years as chair. He co-authored and participated in writing several books for Focus on the Family. Dr. Mann has also served on the Board of Directors for Grace Preparatory Academy where he was a very involved volleyball grand-dad.