William J. Rothwell, Ph.D., SPHR, SHRM-SCP, CPLP Fellow is a Professor of Learning and Performance in the Workforce Education and Development program, Department of Learning and Performance Systems, at The Pennsylvania State University, University Park campus. He is also President of his own consulting firms-Rothwell & Associates, Inc. and Rothwell & Associates, LLC. At Penn State University he heads up a top-ranked graduate program in organization development/change. He has authored, co-authored, edited, or co-edited 300 books, book chapters, and articles-including 127 books in 7 languages. Before arriving at Penn State in 1993, he had nearly 20 years of work experience as a Training Director and HR professional in government and in a multinational business. As a consultant he has worked with over 50 multinational corporations including Motorola, General Motors, Ford, and many others. He has traveled extensively and has visited China 83 times and Singapore 32 times-among many other international travels. He had 20 years of full-time work experience in HR in both government and business before becoming a professor 28 years ago. In 1997 he and his wife founded a small business-a personal care home for the elderly that employed 27 workers. That company was sold in 2017.

His most recent books include Virtual Coaching to Improve Group Relationships: Process Consultation Reimagined (CRC/Productivity Press, 2021); Increasing Learning and Development’s Impact Through Accreditation (Palgrave, 2020); Adult Learning Basics, 2nd ed. (ATD Press, 2020);  Workforce Development: Guidelines for Community College Professionals (Rowman-Littlefield, 2020); Human Resource Essentials for Small Business and Startups (Society for Human Resource Management, 2020).