Rod McCowan

Links (1)

• linkedin.com/in/rodmccowan

Biography

Rod McCowan, PhD

Associate Professor in the Practice of Organization and Management, Goizueta Business School of Emory University

Founder | Chief Catalyst, Accelerance Group International, LLC

Rod McCowan is a sought-after expert in strategic change leadership, known for transforming executives and top teams into world-class leaders capable of driving impactful, enterprise-wide change. As the Founder and Chief Catalyst of Accelerance Group International, Rod leverages over 30 years of C-suite experience to coach senior leaders across sectors on leading transformative change with precision and purpose. His work spans public, social, and private sectors, where he has led complex global change initiatives as a CHRO, strategist, and general manager.

Rod's unique leadership journey includes senior roles at some of the world’s most prominent organizations. President George H.W. Bush appointed him as a White House Fellow, and later, as a senior appointee under President Bill Clinton, he played a pivotal role in revitalizing the U.S. Department of Education. In the corporate arena, Rod held key leadership roles at Herman Miller, Hitachi Data Systems, and VeriSign, where he restructured and led global HR and strategy operations to drive culture change, improve leadership performance, and strengthen results. At Herman Miller, he led business turnarounds in Southeast Asia and East Asia, enhancing the company’s global leadership.

Rod’s expertise extends into the social sector. He served as a senior advisor at New Profit, a leading venture philanthropy firm, where he helped social entrepreneurs scale their organizations and innovations for maximum impact.

Through Accelerance Group, Rod has coached and advised clients ranging from startups to Fortune 50 companies, equipping them with the strategic insight and leadership acumen necessary to thrive in today’s evolving business environment. As Associate Professor in the Practice of Organization and Management at Goizueta Business School, Rod guides MBA candidates and senior executives in becoming principled, high-impact leaders capable of driving meaningful strategic change.

Rod holds a Ph.D. in Strategy and Organizational Behavior with honors from IE University (Madrid, Spain). He also earned an M.Sc. in Research Methodology from IE Business School, an M.P.P. from Harvard’s Kennedy School of Government (where he was twice named a Kennedy Fellow), and an M.A.R. in Ethics from Yale Divinity School.

Education (5)

IE University, IE Business School: PhD, Strategy and Organizational Behavior 2020

(with honors)

IE University, IE Business School: Master of Science, Research Methodology in Management Science 2017

Harvard University, John F. Kennedy School of Government: Master, Public Policy 1990

Yale University, Yale Divinity School: Master of Arts, Religion, Ethics 1985

University of Oklahoma: B.A., Philosophy 1984

Minors in Mathematics and Computer Science

Areas of Expertise (1)

Leading Strategic Organizational Change

In the News (1)

5 New Faculty Join Goizueta This Year

Emory Business  online

2022-08-26

Rod McCowan, a White House Fellow, spent the past decade running his executive coaching and consulting firm. His research intersects strategy, organizational change and behavior, and strategic leadership. McCowan will be teaching a variety of leadership courses including Principled Leadership, Leadership Development, and Leading People and Organizations. “My professional purpose is accelerating executives’ and top teams’ development into outstanding strategic change leaders, which led to launching my executive coaching and consulting practice a decade ago and drove my desire to become a professor. I feel incredibly blessed to have the opportunity to teach at Goizueta, given the high caliber of faculty and students and how strongly my purpose and values align with its mission of preparing principled leaders who will make a difference in the world.”

view more