Education
He received his Doctor of Philosophy.
He received his Doctor of Philosophy.
From the University of California, Berkeley in 1968 with his thesis, Rebel leadership: revisiting the concept of charisma, a subject he developed more fully in his 1973 book, Rebel Leadership: Commitment and Charisma in the Revolutionary Process. He was the first to coin the term "Transformational leadership", a concept further developed by James MacGregor Burns, and one of the key concepts in leadership research over the past 25 years. In 1997 Downton was a reviewer for the American Sociological Review.
He taught for many years at the College of Arts and Sciences of the University of Colorado at Boulder, where he is now Professor Emeritus of Sociology.
He was also one of the founders and Director of the university"s International and National Voluntary Service Training program (INVST). Following his retirement in 2004, the university established the Jim Downton Scholarship, awarded to two students each year in the Community Leadership Program.
The Woo Way: A New Way of Living and Being (2003), Green Dragon, Playful Mind: Bringing Creativity to Life (2003), Green Dragon, Awakening Minds: The Power of Creativity in Teaching (2003), Green Dragon, Blooming: Teaching of a Woo Master(2005), Green Dragon, Peace Movements: The Role of Commitment and Community in Sustaining Member Participation, Journal of Peace Research, An Evolutionary Theory of Spiritual Conversion and Commitment: The Case of Divine Light Mission, Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion.
In 1982 Downton was a panel member of the Institute of Behavioral Science (Theda Skocpol States and Social Revolutions).