Article by Stephanie Hobby

Photos courtesy of Rocky Mountain College 

Dr. Robert Wilmouth spent his first career in Billings as a cardiac, thoracic, and vascular surgeon. By his own account, his second, as president of Rocky Mountain College, has been harder. “If you take it seriously, I find it’s the hardest thing I’ve ever done. It’s harder than open heart surgery to be honest because, you’ve trained all your life to do open heart surgery, right? I wasn’t trained or educated for this,” he said. 

After nearly 15 years of leading the college through challenges and successes, Wilmouth will retire this spring. 

The school he leads is the oldest college in the state, with roots that reach back 11 years before Montana became a state. In 1878, the Montana Territory’s first institution of higher education opened in Deer Lodge. After a stint in Helena and a merger with two other institutions, the school settled in Billings in 1947, where students chose the name Rocky Mountain College. Today, the 60-acre campus offers 54 undergraduate programs, including biology, business, education, aviation, and animal science/equine studies, along with graduate programs in physician assistant studies and occupational therapy. 

Wilmouth first came to RMC in 2008 to lead its struggling Master of Physician Assistant Studies program. He is credited with getting the program off probation by taking practical steps to meet national guidelines and bringing in outside experts to work with students. Today, the program has a reputation for preparing providers who serve communities across the region, and demand for Rocky PA graduates has grown. 

In 2013, Wilmouth was asked to serve as president of the college. In the years since, philanthropic support and endowments through the RMC Foundation have grown, enrollment has increased significantly, and the new Charles M. Morledge Science Building has opened, offering modern laboratory facilities for the natural and health sciences programs. 

Throughout his tenure, Wilmouth has taken Rocky’s commitment to “serve those in front of us” to heart, particularly by establishing the Native American Outreach Office, which connects students with scholarship opportunities, academic support, and community. 

Under his leadership, Herb Klindt Field also received a complete overhaul, with new turf and lights for the Battlin’ Bears and their guests. Those guests now include Billings Central Catholic High School, after Wilmouth forged a partnership to share the field and facilities with the school’s football and softball teams. 

Asked about his proudest accomplishment, he doesn’t pause. “No doubt, it was lasting 15 years as a college president, because that’s unheard of,” Wilmouth said with a laugh. “What happens is that it takes five years to understand the job. Then it takes another five years to know how to use it, and then the last five years, you have the experience and you get locked in.” 

Many in the community would call Wilmouth a natural leader, but he is quick to pass the credit along. “I’m a big believer that none of this is me. It’s really not. I believe you put the right people in the right seats, make sure they’re smarter than you. They’ll disagree with you, but you turn them loose.  That’s essentially what I’ve done.” 

Wilmouth believes results shape culture, not the other way around, and that conviction has kept him focused on identifying what the college needs next and getting it done. He compares it to athletics. “If you win, that will change your culture, and it’s a winning culture. Strategy is very, very important, and we have that.” 

That approach helped launch the college’s Occupational Therapy Doctorate program. During an executive meeting, RMC leaders learned that a former director of another school’s OT program was in town and interested in starting a program in Billings. It would be the first OT doctorate program in the state. After research and work with a consultant, leadership determined it was feasible. In the past three years, the three-year program has graduated 71 students. 

“The community was extremely helpful in that area,” Wilmouth said, emphasizing that bringing the program to Billings was a team effort. “I think if you stay pragmatic and principled and have passion, you can do anything.” 

Being practical also meant taking a hard look at the campus itself. “One thing I’m really proud of is that the campus looks much better. I think first impressions are very important. If it looks good on the outside, maybe things are going well on the inside. That was one thing I wanted to focus on; I wanted the grass to look like a golf course,” he said, crediting the head of facilities and the vice president with making it happen. 

Looking back, Wilmouth said he feels blessed to have had two careers in Billings, first as a surgeon at Billings Clinic and then at Rocky, while he and his wife, Liz, raised two daughters. Moving from the relatively isolated world of heart surgery into fundraising, and working alongside a broad range of community partners, showed him many sides of the city. 

“One of my goals was to make this more community engaged. I felt we could do a better job of that, and open up our doors, open up the fences, whatever, and I think we have succeeded in that. People see us as a community partner,” he said. “I’m grateful to this city and grateful to the people that allowed me to do this.” 

Originally printed in the November 2026 issue of Simply Local Magazine

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