William Rockwell Torbert, PhD
Professor - Organization Studies Department
Bill Torbert earned his BA in politics and economics and his PhD in administrative sciences from Yale University. He taught at the Southern Methodist University Business School and the Harvard Graduate School of Education prior to taking the position of Graduate Dean at the Boston College School of Management in 1978. In 1987, he returned from the deanship to a full-time faculty position. From 1994-97, he served as Director of the Organization Studies PhD Program, and he teaches in the Leadership for Change Executive program as well.
He has founded and directed a school and a small business, has served on many Boards, including Trillium Asset Management Corporation (social investing) and Harvard Pilgrim Health Care, and has consulted to many businesses and not-for-profit organizations. On a national level, he served as Chair for the Organization Development and Change Division of the Academy of Management, 1996-1997, and was its Distinguished Speaker in 2000. He is also a founding member of the Society for Organizational Learning and of the Integral Institute.
His research has focused on the psychological and organizational conditions that are conducive to human development and effective organizational transformation. Recent publications in this area include The Power of Balance: Transforming Self Society and Scientific Inquiry (Sage, 1991), and two collaborative books in 2000, one with Dalmar Fisher and David Rooke, Personal and Organizational Transformations: Through Action Inquiry, and one with Francine Sherman, Transforming Social Inquiry, Transforming Social Action. The latter focuses on a new model of social science that shows how actors in social settings can develop valid knowledge that increases their action effectiveness.
Since coming to Boston College, Dr. Torbert has taught courses in leadership, consulting practice and theory, qualitative and action research methods, western cultural tradition, organizational behavior and group dynamics.
Carroll School of Management
Fulton Hall 426B
140 Commonwealth Ave.
Chestnut Hill, MA 02467
torbert@bc.edu
phone: 617-552-0459
web site: http://www2.bc.edu/~torbert
