Roberta Ann Boyd Stewart

Roberta Ann Boyd Stewart spent her childhood years in Billings, Mont., and graduated from Billings West High School in 1965. Her 30-year banking career began when she went to work for Midland Bank. Over the years, Midland Bank became US Bank. Roberta eventually retired from US Bank in 2001 as a Branch Manager and Vice President.

Never one to “simply retire to the easy life,” Roberta tackled a new adventure by taking a part-time job at MSU Billings within the College of Business (COB). Roberta was challenged to learn all the duties independently as there was no one to train her. However, this was not a concern for Roberta; she found many ways to re-organize and streamline the duties to make it more efficient.

Roberta assisted as an advisor, friend, and the face or voice of the COB for students. Roberta was usually the first person to contact students, and she was the last person encouraging them to get their graduation applications in on time. In many cases, students transferred into the COB, and Roberta had to bring on her sleuth skills to track down missing transcripts, study plans, and other vital information for students to graduate on time. She may have had numerous students to assist, but she made each student feel like they were her only concern.

She was always smiling and never viewed any situation as a problem. Instead, she saw it as a challenge and an opportunity to improve the process. She never gave up on students and encouraged them to fulfill their ultimate potential by completing their degrees. Roberta served the COB for nearly 12 years.

Roberta passed away on Sept. 15, 2021, after a courageous battle with cancer. The Roberta Stewart Endowed Scholarship was established in 2021 by her friends, family, and colleagues to honor her memory and carry on her work of getting students across the finish line, diploma in hand.