Robert A. Coons was unanimously appointed by the Board of Trustees of Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology as the 16th President on November 15, 2018. Prior to this appointment he had served, since 2013, as Senior Vice-President and Chief Administrative Officer. Rob held a variety of finance and management-level positions since joining Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology in 1989, including service as the Interim President of the Institute from April 2012 to April 2013. He was the recipient of the Rose-Hulman President’s Outstanding Service Award in 2010 and the Rose-Hulman Honor Alumni Award in 2013 as well as the 2013 Indiana University EastHonor Alumni Award. In 2014, he received the Terre Haute Rotary Vocational Service Award and was an IBJ CFO of the Year Honoree. Rob is currently serving as Chair of the Governance Committee of the Union Hospital/Union Health System Board of Directors and will begin a two-year term as Chairman of the System Board in January 2023.
Rob currently serves on the Board of Directors of the Central Indiana Corporate Partnership (CICP),the Independent Colleges of Indiana (ICI), as Chair of the ICI Investment Committee, as Vice-Chair of the Heartland Collegiate Athletic Conference (HCAC) Council of Presidents, as a member of theAssociation of Independent Technological Universities (AITU) and is a member of the Terre Haute Economic Development Corporation and Terre Haute Chamber of Commerce Boards of Directors. In September, 2022, he was appointed by Indiana Gov. Eric Holcomb to serve a two-year term on the Governor’s Workforce Cabinet to help strengthen Indiana’s economy.
He is a past president of the Indiana Association of College and University Business Officers and has held various committee appointments on the Central Association of College and University Business Officersduring his tenure. He is a graduate of Leadership Terre Haute and The Wabash Valley Leadership Institute, a past Treasurer and Finance Committee Chair of the United Way of the Wabash Valley, a past president of Vigo County Lifeline, and served as Vice-President of the Indiana Risk Management Association Board of Trustees.
Rob holds an MBA from Indiana State University, CPA licenses in Indiana and North Carolina, a Bachelor of Science in Business from Indiana University, and is a graduate of the Harvard Graduate School of Education Institute for Education Management Program. Rob and his wife Tammy reside in Terre Haute, Indiana.
