Rollins College Launches The Rick Goings Institute for Management and Executive Leadership, Completing Its Transformative $200M "Innovation Triangle"

New executive program addresses a critical capability gap: strengthening executive judgment in an era of sustained disruption

WINTER PARK, Fla., Feb. 25, 2026 /PRNewswire/ -- Rollins College today announced the launch of The Rick Goings Institute for Management and Executive Leadership, a bold new initiative that builds on Rollins' long history of pragmatic liberal arts to establish a new standard for advanced leadership and management training.

At a time when senior executives face continuous disruption, from geopolitical realignment and regulatory volatility to technological acceleration and shifting stakeholder expectations, the Institute addresses a capability gap traditional executive education has not fully met: the capacity to exercise sound judgment when established frameworks no longer apply. The Institute will focus on leadership judgment and its impact on business performance, helping senior leaders anticipate market shifts, redesign operating models, and translate strategy into execution in periods of disruption and growth.

"I've spent 30 years in strategy consulting and industrial operations," said Eric Spiegel, former CEO of Siemens USA and partner at Booz Allen Hamilton. "Traditional executive education gives you frameworks. What it doesn't give you is judgment—the ability to think clearly when the frameworks don't apply anymore. I've believed instinctively for a long time that what's missing is what a serious liberal arts education develops, but I haven't been able to articulate it correctly. Now someone finally has."

The launch of the Institute, made possible by seed capital from the Rick & Susan Goings Foundation, represents the completion of Rollins' transformative Innovation Triangle, comprising the Institute, the Rollins Museum of Art, and The Alfond Inn, after more than a decade of planning and a total investment of more than $200 million.

The Rick Goings Institute will deliver advanced leadership education for executives who have already established their fundamental leadership capabilities. Its programming will focus on developing the capacity for clear thinking about complex operational problems, recognizing and addressing the market transitions leaders face today, managing technological change, and pivoting organizations for execution and growth.

"We are living through permacrisis — not a temporary disruption but a permanent condition of compounding instability: fracturing political orders, collapsing alliances, and technology eliminating entire categories of certainty," said Anil Menon, chief executive officer of The Rick Goings Institute and dean of Crummer Graduate School of Business. "Efficiency and scale are no longer sufficient measures of leadership. What's broken down is judgment — the capacity to read genuinely novel situations, decide when to act, and explain those decisions to stakeholders with fundamentally different worldviews. That is precisely what RGI is built to develop."

The Institute will launch inaugural programs in 2026, delivering custom corporate offerings and establishing strategic partnerships with organizations in Florida and beyond, including the Young Presidents' Organization, founded in 1950 by Ray Hickok, a Rollins alumnus. Additional strategic partners and details about specific initiatives will be announced in the weeks ahead.

"Rollins has long held that a liberal arts education cultivates critical thinking grounded in multiple perspectives and thoughtful judgment, preparing graduates to challenge conventions, integrate new ideas and innovations, and lead by forging new paths," said Brooke Barnett, president of Rollins College. "In recent years, Rollins has advanced a series of initiatives that reinforce our standing as a leading higher education institution not only in Florida, but nationwide. As a cornerstone of our Innovation Triangle, The Rick Goings Institute will further strengthen our ability to educate and develop leaders who are ready to meet this moment by building resilient organizations, strengthening communities, and creating lasting impact."

The Institute will convene leaders from around the world and across sectors, from business to not-for-profits and government, under the unifying vision that transformative leadership can enable organizations to navigate complexity with ethical clarity and long-term societal impact. It will be built around three key elements: focusing on serious business content from people who have studied and run complex operations; providing extended time with other leaders facing the same challenges; and bringing together leaders from these different sectors, who are looking to collaborate on finding innovative solutions.

"Throughout my career, and especially as CEO of Tupperware Brands, where we empowered a salesforce of millions of entrepreneurs, my focus has been building leadership and an entrepreneurial mindset at every level," said Rick Goings, chair of the Rollins Board of Trustees. "Leadership is a human endeavor, and the best leaders bring out the strengths of the people around them to drive results. As technological change, geopolitical shifts, and market volatility reshape how organizations operate, it's more important than ever to recognize the distinct value of human judgment, perspective, and purpose. The Rick Goings Institute will expand access to human-centered leadership approaches that enable organizations to thrive today and in the future."

For close to a century, Rollins has focused on developing leaders who can think broadly about complex problems. The Rick Goings Institute draws on its approach to pragmatic liberal arts, an educational tradition that blends liberal arts with business, STEM and professional studies to foster critical thinking. Moreover, it has been at the forefront of advancing improved pedagogical approaches, including convening a transformative curriculum conference on the liberal arts in 1931, chaired by John Dewey, to help define the modern purpose of liberal arts education. By applying key elements of this approach, the Institute aims to foster precisely the skills and mindset modern organizational leaders need most: meaningful perspective, advanced systems thinking, and a human-centered approach to leadership.

"Rollins understands that leadership develops over time, through experience, reflection, and the exchange of ideas with others who are doing the work," said Grant Cornwell, chairman of the advisory board of The Rick Goings Institute and president emeritus of Rollins College. "The Innovation Triangle brings those conditions together in a powerful way. With this launch, Rollins is building a forum where accomplished leaders can sharpen the judgment and human understanding required to guide institutions wisely and responsibly."

For more information, visit https://rgi.rollins.edu/ 

About Rollins College:

Founded in 1885, Rollins College is Florida's oldest college. Located in Winter Park, near Orlando, Rollins is consistently ranked as one of the top regional universities in the South by U.S. News & World Report. Rollins offers full-time undergraduate programs in the College of Liberal Arts and undergraduate and graduate degree programs for working professionals and adult learners through its evening program at the Hamilton Holt School of Professional Advancement and Graduate Studies. In addition, its Crummer Graduate School of Business features top-ranked MBA programs. Rollins serves approximately 3,200 degree-seeking students annually.

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SOURCE The Rick Goings Institute for Management and Executive Leadership