Richard Kimball

Richard O. Kimball (Rocky) has a distinguished track record working with CEOs, senior executives, and teams-at-the-top to build strategic alignment. His work is often aimed at organizational transformation through the design and delivery of customized executive development initiatives.

Professor Kimball’s work crosses all business sectors. His past clients include half of the U.S. Fortune 50--Apple, Coca-Cola, General Electric, Johnson & Johnson, IBM, United Technologies, MetLife, Dell, Dow Chemical, and Intel, among others.

He also teaches at major business schools and universities, including the Tuck Business School at Dartmouth. He was recently appointed a GIBS Fellow at the Gordon Institute of Business Science in South Africa, where he nurtures an abiding interest in the continued evolution of that nation’s story.

Earlier in his career, Professor Kimball was a faculty member at the Center for Creative Leadership. During the Jack Welch era, he was a consultant and action-learning coach during GE’s Workout and the GE Change Acceleration Program.

He was a major contributor to the book The Future of Executive Development, which chronicles leading edge thinking on how to use executive development to achieve competitive advantage.

Currently he is President and Co-Founder of FRED Forum, a non-profit, membership organization dedicated to elevating leadership quality and the field of leadership development. Sponsored by many of the world’s leading companies and universities, FRED promotes the development of leaders who can thrive in a turbulent world characterized by ambiguity and change. FRED believes that global leaders must succeed not only in traditional business terms, but by addressing the social, educational, and environmental challenges that confront the world today.

Professor Kimball’s lifelong passion for development and performance has extended beyond his work with executives to the fields of mental health and education. He is proud that the Santa Fe Mountain Center, which he founded over thirty years ago, is a nationally acclaimed organization that is still making a difference in the lives of underserved youth, through anti-bullying programs and HIV education. This work has been widely recognized in such diverse media as The Wall Street Journal, The New York Times, People Magazine, 60 Minutes (Australia), and the Today show.

The International Association for Experiential Education recognized him with its highest honor, the Kurt Hahn Award, for his lifelong contributions to the practice and theory of action learning. He holds a PhD in social psychology from the University of Colorado.