Chancellor

Dr. Bob Fisher, Interim Chancellor

Dr. Bob Fisher was appointed interim chancellor of Henderson State University, effective September 15, 2023.

Dr. Fisher is a Henderson graduate and native of Arkadelphia who spent 21 years as president of Belmont University. He received a Bachelor of Science in Business Administration degree in management and economics at Henderson, a Master of Business Administration degree at the University of Memphis, and a Doctor of Philosophy in management and economics at the University of Arkansas.

Prior to joining Belmont, Fisher spent four years as vice president for academic affairs at Arkansas State University, where he led faculty and deans to develop the university’s first doctor of philosophy program. He was business dean at Henderson for 10 years after spending 12 years on the business faculty at the University of Central Arkansas.

During Fisher’s time as president from 2000 to 2021, Belmont enrollment grew from 2,927 to 8,800 while revenue increased from $42 million to $378 million. The campus invested $1 billion in new construction with less than $58 million in debt, and its endowment grew from a low of $28 million in 2002 to $348 million in 2021.

Additionally during his tenure, Belmont launched colleges of law, medicine, pharmacy and architecture, and the school acquired O’More College of Art and Design and Watkins College of Art.

Fisher is past chair of the Nashville Chamber of Commerce, Nashville Convention and Visitors Corporation, and Pencil Foundation and Alignment Nashville. He was named Nashvillian of the Year in 2010 and Tennessean of the Year in 2008.

He is past chair of the Clark County Industrial Council and past board member of Southern Bancorp Community Partners.