Robert A. Barnhardt was born in West Pittston, Pennsylvania on September 21, 1937.
He was educated at the Philadelphia College of Textiles and Science where he earned a B.S.
from the Institute of Textile Technology (ITT), located in Charlottesville, Virginia, in 1961.
[1] Barnhardt was appointed dean and director of education at ITT in 1966.
He also served as the school's executive vice president and chief operating officer before he left in 1987 to take over as the dean of the College of Textiles at North Carolina State University.