Robert James Waller (August 1, 1939 – March 10, 2017) was an American author best known for The Bridges of Madison County.

Later that year, he returned to UNI and began teaching management and economics and in 1977 became a full professor.

He became the founding dean of the College of Business in 1980 and retired from that position in 1986.

In addition to his teaching and administrative duties, Waller was also the director of the university's International Business Institute.

An article in People Magazine commented on the divorce: "The parallels between Waller's life and his art—his Bridges heroine, farmwife Francesca, sacrifices her chance for happiness with a globe-hopping photographer in order to stay home and shield her loved ones from small-town scandal—haven't been lost on the locals.