In a year with an uncertain economy, Robert (Rob) Vischer propelled the University of St. Thomas forward by effectively serving as an academic, business, and community leader.

Vischer, who became the university’s president in January 2023, is TCB’s 2025 Person of the Year.

On Oct. 24, one of Vischer’s major 2025 accomplishments will take center stage in St. Paul. Named for lead donors Lee and Penny Anderson, a new multi-purpose arena with a $175 million price tag will open.

The facility is a testament to the successful effort to move from Division III to Division I athletics. No school had ever made the direct jump from Division III to Division I, but in June the NCAA announced St. Thomas had completed its reclassification process.

Under Vischer’s leadership, St. Thomas has raised more than $131 million for the arena, which will be inaugurated on Oct. 24 when the St. Thomas men’s and women’s hockey teams face the Providence Friars.

St. Thomas is already Minnesota’s largest private university by enrollment. Now the Division I status makes it a bigger draw on a national basis. When Vischer recently welcomed the incoming freshman class to St. Thomas, the university reported it consists of students from 30 states, Guam, Puerto Rico, and more than 60 countries.

While many colleges and universities are seeing enrollment declines, the enrollment at St. Thomas has remained strong. For the 2024-25 school year, total enrollment was 9,445 students for undergraduate and graduate programs. It was a 4% year-over-year increase.

St. Thomas, with campuses in St. Paul and Minneapolis, long has supplied key talent to Minnesota’s large and small employers. At an August Greater MSP event hosted by St. Thomas, Vischer talked about how the St. Paul campus is close to the Minneapolis border. Vischer said that Archbishop John Ireland, who founded St. Thomas in 1885, recognized the importance of the school at the crossroads of the two major cities.

Vischer, who serves on the boards of Greater MSP and the Minnesota Business Partnership, is a leader in the dialogue about ways to strengthen Minnesota’s economy.

In his role as president, he’s educating people who will be entering the full-time workforce, but he’s also helping people with work experience gain new skills and competencies. In January, St. Thomas announced that it was introducing a STEM MBA program. The school said the new MBA would combine “the advanced technical skills employers need with the strategic and ethical decision-making essential to effective leadership.”

While the Opus College of Business is well-regarded by Minnesota employers, Vischer has sought ways to enhance program offerings across the university.

At its core, St. Thomas is a liberal arts school. In June, St. Thomas announced a $25.5 million anonymous alumni gift, with $15.3 million allocated to the College of Arts and Sciences and the remainder earmarked for the new arena and athletic scholarships. “By supporting both the liberal arts and athletics, her gift amplifies our mission to deliver a transformational whole-person education and enrich the student experience in every dimension,” Vischer said at the time.

Vischer, a Harvard Law School graduate, came to St. Thomas 20 years ago to be an associate professor of law. He later became the law school’s dean and was named interim president of St. Thomas when Julie Sullivan left to take the top job at Santa Clara University. The St. Thomas board of trustees selected Vischer to be the Catholic university’s 16th president.

Twin Cities Business will honor Vischer as the 2025 Person of the Year at a Dec. 3 event at The Metropolitan in Golden Valley. At that same event, TCB will recognize the TCB 100, people who are expected to play important leadership roles in Minnesota in 2026.

Vischer will be profiled in the December/January issue of TCB, which also will include coverage of the TCB 100.