Brian Roberts

Class of 1972

Busy launching a career in banking and supporting a family, Brian Roberts resumed his business education at Mount Wachusett Community College’s evening program, ultimately earning an associate’s degree in business administration in 1972.

Roberts began his banking career while he was in high school. He stuck with it after graduating, but “then realized I’d better get some college education,” he said. He took many financial courses at Clark University. “In the interim, I married and had three children,” he said. Attending college full-time wasn’t an option then, so Roberts enrolled as an evening student at the Mount.

Roberts’ experience at the college is similar to that of the thousands of students who have only taken courses at night. “What surprised me most in the evening program was the number of other business people,” he recalled. “There was an older working crowd, and I struck up relationships that I still have today.”

Roberts attended classes in the old Gardner High School campus on Elm Street. “It was unique. It was a step back in time in a real old high school,” he said.

The Mount’s business courses allowed Roberts to build on what he studied at Clark, but he remembers especially what he learned in his English composition course. “The professor, Jack Leamy, really got me into business writing and good communication skills,” Roberts remembered. “They’ve really helped me throughout my whole career. He was probably the biggest influence on me. Not only that, but he got me to enjoy reading more.”

Roberts worked his way up from loan officer at the former Worcester County National Bank to management positions at Fitchburg Savings Bank and the former Worcester County Institution for Savings to president and CEO of Fitchburg Savings Bank. In 1994, he was named president and CEO of Fitchburg Savings Bank, a position he held until his retirement in 2005. He also held key leadership roles in numerous community organizations throughout his career.