Adult Learning Basics

William J. Rothwell, Ph.D., SPHR, SHRM-SCP, CPLP Fellow is a
professor 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. He has authored, co-authored, edited, or co-edited
300 books, book chapters, and articles—including 111 books. Before
arriving at Penn State in 1993, he had nearly 20 years of work experience
as a training director in government and in business. As a consultant
he has worked with more than 50 multinational corporations—including Motorola, General
Motors, Ford, and many others. In 1997 he and his wife founded a small business—a personal
care home for the elderly that employed 27 workers and served as the residence for 54 people. That
company was sold in 2017.
His books since 2017 include Winning the Talent Wars Through Neurodiversity (Taylor
& Francis, in press); The Essential HR Guide for Small Business and Start Ups (Society for
Human Resource Management, 2020); Increasing Learning and Development’s Impact Through
Accreditation (Palgrave, 2020); Workforce Development: Guidelines for Community College
Professionals, 2nd ed. (Rowman-Littlefield, 2020); Human Performance Improvement: Building
Practitioner Performance, 3rd ed. (Routledge, 2018); Innovation Leadership (Routledge,
2018); Evaluating Organization Development: How to Ensure and Sustain the Successful Transformation
(CRC Press, 2017); Marketing Organization Development Consulting: A How-To
Guide for OD Consultants (CRC Press, 2017); and, Assessment and Diagnosis for Organization
Development: Powerful Tools and Perspectives for the OD practitioner (CRC Press, 2017).
Rothwell received a PhD from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign with a
specialization in Human Resource Development, an MABA in Business Administration with
a specialization in Human Resource Management from Sangamon State University (now called
the University of Illinois at Springfield), an MA in English from the University of Illinois at
Urbana-Champaign, and a BA with High Honors and Department Honors from Illinois State
University in Normal, IL. He holds certifications in HR (SPHR and SHRM-SCP), Corporate
Training (CPLP Fellow), Organization Development (RODC), and Life Insurance (the FLMI
designation). 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.