Ron has published seven books, with an eighth, Sitting with Elephants: Lessons in Humility from the African Bush, under consideration at a number of major publishing houses. He also has more than forty refereed publications in the areas of business strategy and business communication. In 2007, the Association for Business Communication selected Ron for its highest research honor: The Kitty O. Locker Outstanding Researcher Award. One of his books, The Elements of Business Writing, was on the Executive Bestseller lists of Houghton-Mifflin, Macmillan, and Prentice-Hall publishing companies.

A devoted teacher, Ron has been selected MBA Teacher of the year twenty-one times and EMBA teacher of the year eighteen times. Other awards recognizing his devotion to students and the university include: the National Alumni Association’s Outstanding Commitment to Teaching Award; the Thomas D. Moore Outstanding Undergraduate Teacher Award; the Penny Allen Award for Outstanding Commitment to Students Award; and the University of Alabama’s Athletic Department’s Crimson Choice Award. The honor with which Ron is most pleased, however, is his selection by Alabama’s senior class as the inaugural speaker for the University’s Last Lecture Program. In 2019, The University of Alabama selected Ron for its highest faculty honor by naming him the recipient of the Algernon Sydney Sullivan Award.

Ron enjoys international travel and has delivered multiple research and business presentations in the following locations over the past five years: Antwerp, Belgium; Arusha, Tanzania; Beijing and Shanghai, China; Cape Town, Johannesburg, and Pretoria South Africa; Dresden, Germany; Dublin, Ireland; Gothenburg, Sweden; Helsinki, Finland; Riga, Latvia; Shanghai, China; Singapore, and Windhoek, Namibia. Ron and his wife, Sally, reside ten months a year in Northport, Alabama and two months a year in a nature preserve in Sabie Park, South Africa.

Companies with which Ron has worked extensively in the areas of business strategy and managerial communication include: Adtran, Chevron, Energen, IBM, Kimberly Clarke Corporation, Mercedes Benz International, Region’s Bank Corporation, and Stora Enso.

Ron currently serves as Chairman of the Board of Alabama Credit Union and sits as a director on various local, state, and national boards.