Born in Portland, Oregon, Robert Mann studied at the Juilliard School; he won the Naumburg Competition in 1941. After serving in the military, he returned to Juilliard, where he formed the Juilliard Quartet with violinist Robert Koff, violist Raphael Hillyer, and cellist Arthur Winograd. He served as first violinist until he retired from the group in 1997.

Mann is on the faculty of the Juilliard School and is president of the Naumburg Foundation.

Nicholas Mann also studied at Juilliard. He is a founding member of the Mendelssohn String Quartet and has appeared as a soloist with orchestras and in duo recital with his father.

"Manhattan School of Music is greatly enriched by the appointment of Robert and Nicholas Mann to our faculty," said MSM president Robert Sirota. "As performer, teacher, conductor, and composer, Robert Mann is one of the most influential and positive forces in American string playing. We are doubly blessed in that we also have Nicholas Mann to carry forward the next generation of this great musical dynasty."