Drawing from twenty-eight years of experience as an educator and thirty-one years as an NFL referee, Jim Tunney is a celebrity speaker specializing in team building, leadership, motivation, self-management, customer service and wellness.

During his football career, he became "Dean of the Referees" and shared the field with some of the greatest athletes of our time—Roger Staubach, Mean Joe Greene, Frank Gifford, and Gale Sayers. As a speaker, he talks about the common qualities of these sports greats and the key ingredients that spell success.

Recognized as a speaker who educates, motivates and entertains, Tunney works with Apple, Xerox, All-State, State Farm, Cadillac, Toyota, Frito-Lay, Nabisco, Arco, and Unocal, among other companies, teaching the skills needed for S.M.A.R.T. goals and effective action.

His credentials rank him in the top 4% of professional speakers working today. A member of the National Speakers Association, he served as the organization's president in 1986 and 1987.

After receiving master's and doctorate degrees in education from the University of Southern California in 1960, Tunney began a distinguished career in academics. He worked first as a teacher and then as a principal at numerous high schools in the Los Angeles area. In 1977, he was appointed superintendent of the Bellflower school district.

Tunney's book, Impartial Judgment, "The Dean of NFL Referees" Calls Pro Football the Way He Sees It (Griffin, 1995), chronicles his career as a referee. Other recent titles include Speaking Secrets of the Masters (Executive Books, 1995), written with members of the Speakers Roundtable; and The Winning Spirit (Griffin, 1995), with writings by Les Brown, Jim Cathcart and others on what it takes to shape an Olympic champion's dedication to cause and training. He is presently at work on a new book to be published by Health Communications, Chicken Soup for the Sports Fan's Soul.