Bob Fehrenbacher earned a high school diploma from Austin High School and a bachelor's degree in chemical engineering from the University of Texas, Austin, in 1979. His career experience includes working as a manufacturing executive. Fehrenbacher volunteered as a member of the Wood County Development Authority, West Virginia Manufacturers Association, Wood County Farm Bureau, and the Parkersburg Rotary. He was the board chair of the United Way Alliance of the Mid-Ohio Valley and the Southeast Texas Plant Managers Forum and was the scoutmaster of Troop 85 of the Three Rivers Council of the Boy Scouts.