Tonette S. Rocco is a Professor of Adult Education and Human Resource Development in the Department of Educational Policy Studies, and graduate program leader for the master’s and doctoral programs in Adult Education and Human Resource Development. She previously served five years as Director of the Office of Academic Writing and Publication Support in the former College of Education.

Dr. Rocco earned four degrees from The Ohio State University: a Bachelor of Science in Business Administration, Master of Science in Labor & Human Resources, Master’s in Education, and PhD in Adult Education & Human Resource Development, completing her undergraduate and graduate studies as a nontraditional single mother student. Prior to her academic faculty role, she coordinated workforce and school-to-work programs for the university’s Center of Special Needs Populations.

A distinguished scholar, Dr. Rocco is one of only 25 U.S. Houle Scholars, a 2016 inductee into the International Adult and Continuing Education Hall of Fame, and the 2016 Outstanding HRD Scholar, with over 35 total awards for scholarship, mentoring and service. She is the only scholar to co-edit handbooks for both the HRD field and adult and continuing education field, with 11 published books to her credit—including multiple award-winning titles, such as a Frandson Book Award winner and two Academy of Human Resource Development Forward Award recipients, plus a bestselling scholarly writing handbook.

She has published more than 300 peer-reviewed works across journals, books and conference proceedings, with 23 award-winning articles and chapters. Her research centers on continuing professional education, equity and privilege (covering race, LGBTQ+ issues, disability and age), employability and career development, student scholarly writing, and qualitative research methods. A dedicated mentor, she has earned multiple university-wide mentorship awards, leads formal national and international mentoring programs, and provides ongoing informal mentorship to emerging scholars globally.