Robert Alan Niblock was the

chairman The chair, also chairman, chairwoman, or chairperson, is the presiding officer of an organized group such as a board, committee, or deliberative assembly. The person holding the office, who is typically elected or appointed by members of the gro ...

president President most commonly refers to: *President (corporate title) * President (education), a leader of a college or university *President (government title) President may also refer to: Arts and entertainment Film and television *'' Præsident ...

and

CEO A chief executive officer (CEO), also known as a chief executive or managing director, is the top-ranking corporate officer charged with the management of an organization, usually a company or a nonprofit organization. CEOs find roles in variou ...

Lowe's Lowe's Companies, Inc. ( ) is an American retail company specializing in home improvement. Headquartered in Mooresville, North Carolina, the company operates a chain of retail stores in the United States. As of October 28, 2022, Lowe's and i ...

. He retired on July 2, 2018.

Early life and education

Niblock is the youngest of four children and the first person in his immediate family to attend college. He worked to pay his own way through college, earning a

bachelor's degree A bachelor's degree (from Medieval Latin ''baccalaureus'') or baccalaureate (from Modern Latin ''baccalaureatus'') is an undergraduate degree awarded by colleges and universities upon completion of a course of study lasting three to six years ...

in accounting from the Belk College of Business at

University of North Carolina, Charlotte A university () is an institution of tertiary education and research which awards academic degrees in several academic disciplines. ''University'' is derived from the Latin phrase , which roughly means "community of teachers and scholars". Univ ...

. He is also a

Certified Public Accountant Certified Public Accountant (CPA) is the title of qualified accountants in numerous countries in the English-speaking world. It is generally equivalent to the title of chartered accountant in other English-speaking countries. In the United Stat ...

Career

Before Lowe's, Niblock had a nine-year career with accounting firm

Ernst & Young EY, previously known as Ernst & Young, is a multinational corporation, multinational professional services partnership, network based in London, United Kingdom. Along with Deloitte, KPMG and PwC, it is one of the Big Four accounting firms, Big F ...

. Niblock joined Lowe's in 1993 and became, and has served as director of taxation, vice president and treasurer (1997–1998), senior vice president (1999–2000), executive vice president (2001–2003) and

chief financial officer A chief financial officer (CFO) is an officer of a company or organization who is assigned the primary responsibility for making decisions for the company for projects and its finances; i.a.: financial planning, management of financial risks, ...

(2000–2003). From 2003 to 2006, he served as president of the company. He became a member of the board of directors in 2004 when he was named chairman and CEO-elect. In January 2005, he officially became

and

chief executive officer A chief executive officer (CEO), also known as a chief executive or managing director, is the top-ranking corporate officer charged with the management of an organization, usually a company or a nonprofit organization. CEOs find roles in variou ...

. In 2011, he reassumed the title of president. Niblock joined the

Retail Industry Leaders Association Retail is the sale of goods and Service (economics), services to consumers, in contrast to wholesaling, which is the sale to business or institutional customers. A retailer purchases goods in large quantities from manufacturing, manufacturers ...

in 2003. In that organization, he has served as its vice chairman (2006–2007) and chairman (2008–2009). As of January 2017, he is serving as secretary of the board. Since February 2010, Niblock has served on the board of directors of ConocoPhillips, and also served on its audit and finance committee until May 2014. He is also on the board of directors of the Business for Educational Success and Transformation in North Carolina (BEST NC). Niblock had also served on the board of directors of Hydrox Holdings until stepping down in September 2016. Hydrox Holdings was the joint venture that owned

Masters Home Improvement Masters Home Improvement was an Australian home improvement chain operated by two retailers; Woolworths and Lowe's. It was established as a way for Woolworths to enter the hardware retail market, which has been historically dominated by Bunning ...

prior to its demise.

Honors

In 2015, he became the first presenter of the Belk College of Business CEO Speaker Series. After he spoke, donated 2.5 million dollars to name and support the Robert A. Niblock Student Center for Professional Development at Belk College. In 2016, he was named an Influential Leader by the

Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business The Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business (AACSB) is an American professional and accreditation organization. It was founded as the American Assembly of Collegiate Schools of Business in 1916 to provide accreditation to busines ...

References

American business executives Year of birth missing (living people) Living people 20th-century American businesspeople 21st-century American businesspeople University of North Carolina at Charlotte alumni {{US-CEO-stub