Attorney Robert Capehart was appointed President of Bluefield State University (West Virginia) in 2019 after serving as interim president for more than seven months. He served as president of West Liberty University from 2007 to 2015, and he also served as chair of the VA Council of Presidents. After leaving West Liberty University and prior to joining Bluefield State, Capehart formed a higher education consulting firm, Georgetown Solutions, L.L.C. Capehart also served in government as state Secretary of Tax and Revenue under then Governor Cecil Underwood, and as counsel to the West Virginia Senate Committee on Finance.
Capehart announced he plans to retire at the end of the calendar year. Capehart, newly married, noted that he wanted to spend more time with his wife who had accepted an opportunity out of state. By some accounts, Capehart has had a challenging tenure with the faculty at a majority white HBCU.
A graduate of West Virginia University School of Law (J.D.) and Georgetown University Law Center (LLM in Taxation), Capehart was an adjunct professor at West Virginia Northern Community College and an associate professor and director of tax studies at Marhsall University.
He has also dabbled in the entertainment industry.