Missouri Military Academy (MMA) is pleased to announce that Rob English has joined the Academy’s Board of Trustees. English, the father of MMA Class of 2020 graduate William English, holds more than 35 years of sales and management experience. In his role as trustee, he will help provide strategic oversight and support to MMA, one of the United States’ top college preparatory military boarding academies. An all-male academy, MMA provides residential and day school education for middle and high school (grades 7-12, plus post-grad year).

English began a career in industrial insulation sales in 1988 and moved into management in 2009. During his career, he has worked for a St. Louis firm and global insulation manufacturing organizations. Heavily involved with industry associations, he holds board president leadership experience as well as experience leading various committees.

“As the parent of a recent MMA graduate, Rob understands first-hand how MMA positively influences the lives and futures of our cadets, and we are excited to welcome him to the MMA Board of Trustees,” said MMA President Brigadier General Richard V. Geraci, USA (Ret). “I look forward to working with him. He is a champion for MMA with a strong desire to share his sales and management expertise to help sustain the Academy’s outstanding reputation and legacy.”

English says he joined the Board to help communicate the Academy’s value to families. He says he didn’t fully realize MMA’s positive impact and the potential the Academy’s military educational model holds for cadets until his own son underwent the process through graduation.

The Academy’s focus on helping boys develop into leaders is the primary reason he supports MMA, according to English.

“MMA is a place that helps young men develop. Not many places today cater to young men,” English said. “Other schools don’t guide students the same way.”

He also says he values the Academy’s emphasis on leadership, structure, and diversity, and as his son William pursues his college degree, he sees how those elements helped prepare him for college.

“William is more disciplined than his peers,” English says. “MMA helped him understand time commitment when there is work that needs to be done, and that comes from both the leadership and structure sides of the Academy.”

English also appreciates the global diversity the Academy offers, pointing out that MMA gives cadets the opportunity to learn from other cadets from across the nation and world.

“It’s very unique for a school in the middle of Missouri to have this global diversity, and it’s important in today’s culture — for cadets to understand other cultures and gain insight into their own through this exposure,” he says.

The MMA Board of Trustees is comprised of professionals (business, banking, legal, military veterans, education, medical), former parents, and alumni who believe in the Academy’s mission and formally meets four times per year, in addition to regular committee meetings and monthly executive committee meetings.

English and his wife Katherine live in St. Louis and have two sons currently studying at the University of Missouri-Columbia. He enjoys muscle cars from the 1960s and has been collecting, repairing, and operating pre-World War II toy trains for approximately 30 years.