Twin Cities Business profiled University of St. Thomas President Rob Vischer as its 2025 Person of the Year, highlighting his leadership in expanding academic programs, growing enrollment and elevating the university’s national presence. The feature traces Vischer’s path from law scholar to university president and examines his focus on forming students who lead with purpose, integrity and a strong sense of community.
From the article:
After earning a Harvard Law School degree and practicing law at Kirkland & Ellis, the nation’s largest law firm, Rob Vischer was a young man with many promising and lucrative career options. In 2005, Vischer accepted a position teaching law at the fledgling law school established in 1999 by the University of St. Thomas. Vischer and his wife, Maureen, both Midwest natives, decided they wanted to raise their young daughters in the Twin Cities.
Two decades later, Vischer is president of the university. For the fall of 2025, St. Thomas welcomed its largest freshman class in history, at 1,677 students. Total St. Thomas enrollment grew 4.6% from a year earlier to 9,876 students. For the fourth consecutive year, St. Thomas is on pace to raise more than $100 million from donors and benefactors. In October, St. Thomas opened a new $183.4 million arena in St. Paul, a testament to its success in leaping from NCAA Division III to Division I in college athletics.
Vischer wants his faculty to deliver exceptional academic experiences. However, he knows it’s critical for students to learn to adapt as technology and workforce needs change over time. If Vischer were the CEO of a for-profit business, his peers and competitors would acknowledge his company is having a good run. But Vischer isn’t producing manufactured goods or providing professional services. He is leading Minnesota’s largest private university that’s educating tomorrow’s workforce, and he recognizes that its students need more than discrete sets of skills to build long careers and lead fulfilling lives.
Twin Cities Business extended its Person of the Year coverage to social media, sharing Vischer’s profile with its broader audience.
Twin Cities Business also hosted an event Dec. 3 honoring its Person of the Year and the 2025 TCB 100 list, bringing together leaders from across the region to celebrate this year’s honorees. During the program, senior editor Liz Fedor interviewed President Rob Vischer on stage, where he discussed St. Thomas’ momentum, his approach to mission-driven leadership and the opportunities ahead for the university.
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