Cornelius N Grove - A native of Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, Cornelius Grove grew up and attended high school in Chattanooga, Tennessee.  He attended Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, Maryland, receiving the B.A. and M.A.T. degrees.  The Hopkins faculty honored him as "the student who contributed the most to the life of the university." Cornelius began his professional career as a secondary school history teacher and guidance counselor in White Plains, New York.  After three years, he joined Harcourt Brace & World Publishing Company as an editor and writer.  Following similar work for a small publishing firm, he became a technical writer, developing computer software engineers' manuals at the IBM Corporation. -

In 1978, Cornelius joined AFS Intercultural Programs as director of its research and program development functions, a position he held for 11 years.  During this period, his research concentrated on understanding (1) the adjustment process of sojourners and (2) the learning and personal growth of sojourners.  ("Sojourners" designates individuals who live in an unfamiliar culture for an extended period of time.)  He published many professional articles including, with co-author Prof. Ingemar Torbiörn of the University of Stockholm, "A New Conceptualization of Intercultural Adjustment and the Goals of Training, "International Journal of Intercultural Relations (1985); this won two major awards for excellence and has since been republished several times.

In 1986, Cornelius was a visiting professor at Beijing Foreign Studies University.  He taught two graduate courses there and, with Prof. Hu Wenzhong, vice chancellor of the university, began co-authoring a book about cultural differences between Chinese and Americans.  Published in 1991, Encountering the Chinese: A Guide for Americans quickly became a best-seller for Intercultural Press.  The second edition of this book was published in 1999 (info).

In January 1990, Cornelius established Cornelius Grove & Associates in New York City and began consulting on a full-time basis with respect to cross-cultural business issues.  In January 1992, he entered into a business partnership with anthropologist Willa Hallowell.  Their firm, now doing business as GROVEWELL LLC, has more than 80 associates and executive coaches based around the world. 
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Cornelius is the author or co-author of more than 50 professional articles and books, including Randömia Balloon Factory (Intercultural Press, 2001), the unique business simulation (info) co-authored with Willa Hallowell.  In 1998, he was named a Charter Fellow of the prestigious International Academy for Intercultural Research (IAIR).  In 2001, he was invited to join the faculty of the Summer Institute for Intercultural Communication (SIIC), the world's premier intercultural institute.  At SIIC during July 2005, Cornelius and GROVEWELL senior associate Kathleen Molloy co-instructed "Executive Coaching in Intercultural Perspective."  For a testimonial about this course, click here.

Cornelius has a career-long interest in worldwide differences in presentation styles as found in classrooms, training rooms, and formal meetings.  His research has led to a business-oriented, two-day training event, "Dr. Grove's Toolkit for Effective Presentations to Nationally Mixed Audiences," which has been delivered for global corporations, government agencies, and at the Summer Institute for Intercultural Communication.  At a conference in Singapore in October 2005, he presented a major paper, "Understanding the Two Instructional Style Prototypes: Pathways to Success in Internationally Diverse Classrooms" (abstract), published in Singapore in November 2006 (link).  He is now working on a book tentatively entitled, Tactics for Trainers of Adults from Other Nations, co-authored with Bangkok-based Austrian scholar Dr. Astrid Kainzbauer.  For more information on Cornelius's career-long interest and related GROVEWELL's services, visit Grovewell.com/Worldclass.

Cornelius is married to Christine Martin, an Englishwoman and the editor of Arthritis Self-Management.  Their children are Matthew, 33, a business executive and Executive MBA graduate of Columbia University; Dominic, 30, an account manager at Hall & Partners; and Alex, 30, an MBA-MA graduate of Wharton Business School, fluent speaker of Mandarin, and consultant at Morgan Stanley in Hong Kong.  Cornelius, his family's cook, enjoys miles-long daily walks and became a first time grandfather on 30 May 2008.
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Willa Hallowell - Willa Zakin Hallowell has dedicated her life to understanding people and societies different from her own.  A native of New York City, her fascination began during her many childhood opportunities to sojourn for extended periods in France.  She is fluent in French, conversant in Italian, and has studied Portuguese, Spanish, and Persian.  Willa believes that flexibility, openness, and the ability to put oneself in the place of others are essential to bridging cultural divides. Willa attained two degrees in anthropology – a B.A. at Columbia University and an M.A. at the City University of New York – and completed all coursework towards a doctorate.  She was an adjunct lecturer in anthropology at Brooklyn College between 1975 and 1978.- -

The most experienced course attendee, long an internal coach of executives and senior professionals from Asia and other locations abroad at a major American organization, wrote this about GROVEWELL's SIIC course:

The "Executive Coaching in the Intercultural Perspective" course offered by GROVEWELL LLC was a profound and dynamic demonstration of the intercultural learning process.  They have elegantly synthesized a wealth of knowledge and wisdom into pragmatic models and methods and deep personal insights relevant for any professional.  An experience greatly enhanced by the generous, delightful trainers, who are truly experts in their fields.

Suzanne L. Balaoing
Kaiser Permanente