Bob Stiller with 3 children on a coffee farm

About Robert Stiller

The namesake of our business school, Robert P. Stiller recognized early on that business could do more than make profits—a business can make a difference.

A pioneer of new business principles.

Robert Stiller developed Green Mountain Coffee Roasters into a financially successful company, while embracing social responsibility and providing employees with a great place to work. He understood that profit was only one aspect of success; making the world a better place was another. These principles underscore our “business done better” approach to business education.

A key aspect of his management practice was incorporating Appreciative Inquiry (AI) techniques, and he partnered with Champlain College in 2011 to hold an AI Summit at Champlain. This summit explored how the college could improve its support of and impact on the Vermont economy through partnerships and training.

When you seek to understand and focus on what works, you can form and empower your dreams and make a plan to realize them. … We believe that to redefine business, it is necessary to introduce new thinking into how business is taught to the next generation of leaders and entrepreneurs. This is particularly important with regard to the role of the individual within the context of all stakeholders in a corporation or a community.
Robert Stiller
We have great faith in Champlain College. What they have accomplished over the past 20 years is truly remarkable and we have full confidence in its leadership and faculty. We want to help Champlain accomplish its goals and vision to become the finest small, professionally and globally focused college in the United States. We wish to show our support with a transformational gift.
The Stiller Family