Robert Francis Bernard was an Information Technology

Information technology

Information technology is the acquisition, processing, storage and dissemination of vocal, pictorial, textual and numerical information by a microelectronics-based combination of computing and telecommunications...

 executive, most noted for presiding over dot-com bubble

Dot-com bubble

The dot-com bubble was a speculative bubble covering roughly 1995–2000 during which stock markets in industrialized nations saw their equity value rise rapidly from growth in the more...

 consulting flameout

Flameout

A flameout refers to the failure of a jet engine caused by the extinction of the flame in the combustion chamber. It can be caused by a number of factors, including fuel exhaustion; compressor stall; insufficient oxygen supply; foreign object damage ; severe inclement weather; and mechanical...

 marchFIRST

MarchFirst

marchFIRST, Inc. was a short-lived international systems integrator and internet consulting company at the tail end of the dot-com boom. marchFIRST was a Nasdaq traded public company whose peak stock price reached $52...

, the largest Internet professional services company of its time. He is also known for co-founding one of marchFIRST's predecessors, Whittman-Hart

Whittman-Hart

-History:Founded by Bob Bernard Bill Merchantz, Rich Colson, and Bill Topol in the Chicago area in 1984, it specialized first in AS/400 IT consulting. It grew steadily, for about 15 years, including some acquisitions. The company went public in 1996...

.

He was the son of an electrician who worked for Chicago's Inland Steel Co. In 1984, he dropped out of Ball State University

Ball State University

Ball State University is a state-run research university located in Muncie, Indiana. It is also known as Ball State or simply BSU.Located on the northwest side of the city, Ball State's campus spans and includes 106 buildings...

 to found Whittman-Hart, a software and consulting company focused on delivering solutions for IBM systems.

He was the CEO of the resurrected WhittmanHart

Whittman-Hart

-History:Founded by Bob Bernard Bill Merchantz, Rich Colson, and Bill Topol in the Chicago area in 1984, it specialized first in AS/400 IT consulting. It grew steadily, for about 15 years, including some acquisitions. The company went public in 1996...

 in Chicago

Chicago

Chicago is the largest city in the US state of Illinois. With nearly 2.7 million residents, it is the most populous city in the Midwestern United States and the third most populous in the US, after New York City and Los Angeles...

when he died February 2, 2007 of an apparent heart attack.