William J. Rothwell, Ph.D., SPHR, SHRM-SCP, CPLP Fellow is president of Rothwell & Associates, Inc. and Rothwell & Associates, LLC (see www.rothwellandassociates.com). He is also a professor-in-charge of the Workforce Education and Development program, Department of Learning and Performance Systems, at The Pennsylvania State University, University Park campus. He has authored, co-authored, edited, or co-edited 350 books, book chapters, and articles—including 105 books.

Before arriving at Penn State in 1993, he had 20 years of work experience as a training director, HR and organization development in government and in business. He has also worked as a consultant for over 40 multinational corporations--including Motorola China, General Motors, Ford, and many others. In 2012 he earned ASTD’s prestigious Distinguished Contribution to Workplace Learning and Performance Award, and in 2013 ASTD honored him by naming him as a Certified Professional in Learning and Performance (CPLP) Fellow. In 2014 he was given the Asia-Pacific International Personality Brandlaureate Award. He was the first U.S. citizen named a Certified Training and Development Professional (CTDP) by the Canadian Society for Training and Development in 2004.

His recent books include Organization Development in Practice (ODNETWORK, 2016), Mastering the Instructional Design Process, 5th ed. (Wiley, 2016), Effective Succession Planning, 5th ed. (Amacom, 2015), Practicing Organization Development, 4th ed. (Wiley, 2015), The Leader’s Daily Role in Talent Management (McGraw-Hill, 2015), and Beyond Training and Development, 3rd ed. (HRD Press, 2015).