Robert H Waterman Jr was an American business consultant and author. He was best known for his work on the best-selling book In Search of Excellence, which he co-authored with Tom Peters. Waterman was born in Los Angeles, California in 1939. He attended Stanford University, where he earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in 1961 and a Master of Business Administration degree in 1962. Waterman began his career as a management consultant at McKinsey & Company in 1962. He quickly rose through the ranks and became a partner in 1970. During his time at McKinsey, Waterman worked on a number of high-profile projects, including the turnaround of the Bank of America and the restructuring of the United States Postal Service. In 1982, Waterman and Peters published In Search of Excellence, which became an international bestseller. The book was based on their research into the practices of successful companies and offered advice on how to replicate their success. Waterman left McKinsey in 1985 and founded his own consulting firm, RWG, in 1988. He also wrote several other books, including The Renewal Factor and The Adventure of Self-Discovery. Waterman passed away in 2020 at the age of 81.