In Memory:
Robert C. Troxler ’63

A dedicated trustee of the VMI Foundation and a leader of a record-breaking class reunion campaign, Robert C. “Trox” Troxler ’63 died March 11, 2025. Although his history in the Bomb states that his hometown was Jacksonville, Florida, Troxler’s boyhood had a definite international flair. After World War II, his father, a career Army Corps of Engineers officer, served in Japan and Greece. He also oversaw the construction of U.S. bases in North Africa and the Middle East and was involved in a major reclamation project in Pakistan. This experience, his family stated, “gave [Bob] a global perspective that influenced his professional and personal life.”

Troxler was a cadet corporal and, in his 1st Class year, a cadet captain commanding Company A. His Bomb history stated, “Though a zebra of the highest order, Bob has never let his stripes stand between him and his brother rats.” He was involved with numerous publications, such as the Bomb and The Cadet, and many cadet organizations, including the Political Science Club, the Hop Committee, and the Canterbury Club. A double major in English and economics, Troxler was a Distinguished Military Graduate. His Bomb history presciently concluded, “Trox … has led and probably will continue to lead a charmed life. He will always be remembered and respected by his brother rats as a sincere and capable individual who is certain to go far in whatever he attempts in life.”

Troxler served in the Army for 5 years as an armor and intelligence officer. In 1968, he left the service in the grade of captain and enrolled in Harvard Business School. He received his Master of Business Administration degree from the school in 1970.

He then joined Citibank, for which he would work for 36 years. Except for 3 years in the 1970s, Troxler worked and lived overseas, in such places as the United Kingdom, Germany, the Netherlands, and Luxembourg. From 1975–78, he led the bank’s group investor relations department and, in that position, was responsible for Citibank’s relationships with international institutional investors. From 1980–96, he led the team responsible for Citigroup Asset Management’s relationships with governments and other institutions outside of the United States. In his final decade with Citibank, Troxler was the managing director, portfolio counseling, for the Citgroup Private Bank based in Geneva, Switzerland. In this capacity, he headed a team that provided strategic and asset-allocation investment advice to international private banking clients.

After retiring from Citibank in June 2006, he remained in Geneva and founded GlobalView Investments S.A. Under his leadership, this firm provided advice on business management, business development, and wealth management for private and institutional clients in Europe and the Middle East.

Despite living and working far from Lexington, Troxler’s devotion to VMI never waned. Records of the VMI Alumni Agencies show he offered to help with alumni activities in the early 1980s, for example. He joined the VMI Foundation Board of Trustees in 2007 and served as a trustee until 2015. He was a member of the board’s Finance Committee and the Strategic Planning Committee, as well as the Development Committee and Major Gifts Subcommittee. Applying his extensive experience in international finance to the work of the Foundation, he made many important contributions to their work and the board’s. Yet, what made him stand out was that he traveled from Switzerland to meet his commitments. Few, if any, were the board meetings at which he was not present and fully involved in the work at hand.

Troxler brought his knowledge and experience to bear on behalf of his brother rats—and the Institute—as one of the three co-chairmen of the Class of 1963’s 50th Reunion Campaign Committee. Working with Beau Walker ’63 and the late G. Gilmer Minor III ’63, Troxler coordinated the work of the committee members who took the messages of the campaign—that the class should help VMI in its critical mission and should beat the effort of the Class of 1962—to the class. In response to this appeal, 171 brother rats provided gifts and commitments totalling more than $20.1 million. This was a new record for 50th Reunion campaigns, and it stands to this day. While Troxler characteristically was reluctant to claim any credit, Walker and Minor praised him for his work. Walker said, “Bob Troxler led this effort from Geneva and anywhere he traveled on business, such as the Middle East. It was—and is—amazing that he was able to do this considering the demands of his job and just as amazing that he was able to come back for two committee meetings.”

Minor’s praise was no less effusive: “Bob’s leadership, passion, and example were inspirational to all of us in the class. He truly was the reason we all came together to honor our beloved Institute.”

From 2016–23, Troxler further aided VMI on the board of VMI Investment Holdings, LLC, which is responsible for overseeing a portfolio of investments worth hundreds of millions of dollars. Again, he made many invaluable contributions to the advancement of the Institute.

“It was my good fortune to serve with Bob on the VMI Foundation Board of Trustees,” said T. Bryan Barton ’68, who was a trustee from 2008–20 and the Foundation’s president from 2017–19. “His business acumen and devotion to VMI were apparent in his work on important committees. While serving on the board of VMI Investment Holdings, LLC, he helped these investments’ value reach new records. As a co-chairman of his class’ 50th Reunion campaign, he tirelessly applied himself to ensuring a record-breaking gift. Moreover, he was a great friend and colleague who worked across generations of alumni and friends to ensure a bright future for VMI.” 

Troxler was the son of Paul Dexter Troxler, Class of 1926, and the brother of Paul Drewry Troxler ’58. He is survived by three sons and their wives; six grandchildren; and his sister, Anne Hoover. His wife, Nancy (née Clark), whom he married in 1969, predeceased him.