Robert Conley was the seventeenth president of Seton Hall University and served in that capacity from 1977 to 1979. Dr. Conley was the first official lay president of Seton Hall.

Robert Conley attended Seton Hall as a student, graduating with a bachelor's degree in chemistry in 1953, before receiving his PhD in chemistry from Princeton University in 1957. He became a member of the faculty of Wright State University, where he was chair of the Department of Chemistry and then Dean of Science and Engineering. He was married to Doris Conley and the couple had a son, Bryan, and two daughters, Debra Henderson and Robin Barbiea.

Appointed President of Seton Hall University in 1977, Dr. Conley oversaw a tumultous time in the University community. The incoming freshman classes of 1977 and 1978 were the among the largest in university history, with approximately 1900 students in the 1978 freshman class. The University also experienced a number of budget issues that led to a large deficit. Overcrowding of classrooms and facilities, as well as security issues, were of great concern to students, and contract issues led to fear of a faculty strike in 1979. Dr. Conley resigned as President in the summer of 1979.

In 1982, Dr. Conley became President of the Union Institute of Cinncinati, Ohio, where he remained until his death in 1999 of a heart attack.