Richard O. “Rocky” Kimball Ph. D.

Richard O. "Rocky" Kimball, Ph.D., Advisory Board Member at World Action Teams, is a social psychologist, executive coach, educator, and President of ROK Consulting. He was the founder and president of Action Learning Associates (ALA) www.actionlearning.com, which continues to specialize in designing and delivering customized programs for leadership development and high performance teams. Rocky received his undergraduate degree from Washington and Lee University, (1971) and PhD from the University of Colorado, Boulder, (1978).

Rocky has taught leadership and team development within a variety of organizations, including Texas Instruments, Goldman Sachs, American Express, UBS, Toyota, Motorola, Mattel, Sun Microsystems, and Dell. He teaches in executive education programs at the University of Southern California and the Tuck School of Business. Recently the University of Pretoria in South Africa appointed him a Teaching Fellow in recognition of his commitment to business education in South Africa.

Rocky's work in education and executive development has been recognized by the United States Department of Education, Entrepreneur Magazine, The Wall Street Journal, The New York Times, and others. The International Association of Experiential Education has recognized him with its highest honor, the Kurt Hahn Award, for his lifetime contributions to the practice and the theory of experience-based learning. In 2005, he was one of a distinguished group of writers and thought leaders who contributed to the book The Future of Executive Development.


Prior to founding ALA, Rocky was a faculty member at the Center for Creative Leadership, where he helped to evolve the team development module and where he worked as a feedback specialist and executive coach. In his personal time, Rocky is an avid endurance athlete. He has run over 30 marathons and mountain ultra-marathons. As a climber, he has led many expeditions, including ascents of Mt. McKinley, the Matterhorn, Aconcagua, Huascaran, Kilimanjaro, and Mt. Blanc. He lives in Denver, Colorado, with his wife Mary Lou.