Kenneth L. Roberts

Kenneth L. Roberts, a trustee since 1976, graduated from Vanderbilt University, spent two years as a lieutenant in the U.S. Army Chemical Corps, and then earned the Founder’s Medal upon graduating from Vanderbilt Law School with his LL.B. in 1959.

After graduation, he spent a year as an assistant professor of law before beginning to practice with the firm of Waller Lansden & Dortch. In 1966, Mr. Roberts moved to Commerce Union Bank where, over the course of the next five years, he served as vice president, senior vice president, executive vice president, and a member of the board. Then, in 1971, he became president and chief executive officer at Central National Bank and Central National Corporation in Richmond, Virginia. After transferring in 1976 to First American Corporation, he rose through the ranks of upper management, eventually assuming the position of chairman of the board and chief executive officer of First American Corporation and First American National Bank. He now serves as president emeritus of The Frist Foundation and as president of the Frist Center for the Visual Arts.

Mr. Roberts has served as president of the Nashville Chamber of Commerce, as chairman of the board for the Salvation Army, and as a board member for Genesco, Inc., United Way of Middle Tennessee, and the Nashville Symphony. He currently serves on the boards of directors of numerous Nashville organizations, including Leadership Nashville, Boy Scouts of America of Middle Tennessee, and the Country Music Foundation. He is a member of Nashville’s Agenda as well as the literary group The Round Table. He received the Silver Beaver Award from the Boy Scouts of America and the Brotherhood Award from the National Conference of Christians and Jews. He was secretary of the Vanderbilt Board of Trust from 1991 to 2003.

He is married to Delphine and is the father of Kenneth Lewis Roberts, Jr., and Patrick Hagan Foster Roberts.