Robert C. (Bob) Fisher served as President of Belmont University from April 2000 through May 2021. Prior to his appointment at Belmont in April of 2000, he was vice president for academic affairs at Arkansas State University and had previously served as dean of the school of business at Henderson State University.
Fisher earned his BSBA from Henderson State University, an MBA from the University of Memphis, and a PhD from the University of Arkansas.
He has served the community of Nashville in various roles including chair of the Greater Nashville Area Chamber of Commerce, chair of the board of the Pencil Foundation, co-chair of the Mayor’s Task Force on Public Education and as a member of the board for non-profits such as the Nashville Public Education Foundation, Alignment Nashville, Cumberland Region Tomorrow, United Way, Nashville Symphony, Country Music Hall of Fame, and others.
Under Fisher’s leadership Belmont’s enrollment more than doubled from 2,970 to over 8,400 for the fall of 2019. New undergraduate majors have been added in motion pictures, music therapy, publishing, social entrepreneurship, songwriting, worship leadership and public relations as well as doctoral programs in pharmacy and law. In 2008, Belmont hosted the Town Hall Presidential Debate. In the same year Fisher was named “Tennessean of the Year,” and in 2010, he was named “Nashvillian of the Year.”
In 2008, he and his wife, Judy, co-authored Life is a Gift: Inspiration from the Soon-Departed, a book that shares thoughts on living from 105 people in the Alive Hospice Program. He previously co-authored Real Dream Teams, a book on team leadership. Fisher has also served as a Fulbright Scholar in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.
His life mission is to help to create experiences that transform people, especially students, in ways that enable them to become all they were created to be.