IPPA Council of Advisors

Professor Donaldson works with students on a wide range of topics across several fields and programs at CGU, including evaluation theory and practice; the science of well-being and positive psychology; positive organizational and sports psychology; organizational behavior; positive organizational and human resource development; positive youth development and education; and community/global health program design, monitoring, and evaluation. As an immigrant born overseas and now a naturalized US citizen, Professor Donaldson has traveled extensively and especially enjoys working on cross-cultural and international topics with students who have diverse backgrounds and perspectives from all across the globe. He was recently honored with the International Positive Psychology Association (IPPA) Inspiring Mentor Career Achievement Award (2019) and appointed Faculty Advisor of the IPPA Student Division with approximately 600 student members from 50 different countries. From 2011-2017, he was director and faculty mentor for approximately 50 underrepresented minority graduate students from across more than 30 different universities participating in the American Evaluation Association’s esteemed and internationally recognized Graduate Education Diversity Internship (GEDI) Program. Professor Donaldson has served as chair or member on more than 100 doctoral dissertation committees at CGU since 1995, and more than 200 master’s theses and online certificate students’ culminating research and evaluation projects.

Donaldson previously provided more than 16 years of leadership and service to the School of Social Science, Policy, & Evaluation (SSSPE), where he was the founding dean from 2013 to 2017; the School of Community & Global Health (SCGH), where he was dean from 2013 to 2017; the School of Politics & Economics, where he was dean from 2012 to 2013; and the School of Behavioral & Organizational Sciences (SBOS), where he was dean from 2001 to 2013. Donaldson’s portfolio in the social and health sciences during the final three years of his concurrent deanships (2014-2017) included providing academic leadership for more than 100 core and supporting graduate faculty, overseeing the education of more than 650 degree-seeking graduate students, and securing grants, contracts, and gifts to support SSSPE and SCGH research and students. Among many other accomplishments, Donaldson led the effort to develop the first research-oriented positive psychology programs in the world, launch the new Doctor of Public Health program at CGU (DrPH), and dramatically expanded the portfolio of evaluation and applied research programs.

In 2007, Donaldson (in collaboration with professors Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi and Jeanne Nakamura) developed the first research-focused PhD and MA programs in positive psychology. He currently provides paid employment and supervises numerous students specializing in positive organizational psychology, positive health and sports psychology, and evaluation science. Many of his students are active in his Accenture Talent Innovation Lab, Positive Organizational Psychology Research Lab, Positive Organizational Development Lab, or Positive Sports & Peak Performance Psychology Lab. Professor Donaldson actively recruits new students to join his labs at the beginning of the fall, spring, and summer semesters.

Donaldson also employs and supervises doctoral, masters, and certificate students specializing in evaluation and applied research methods. Many of these students work with him on projects as part of the Claremont Evaluation Center (CEC) and his Culturally Responsive and International Theory-driven Evaluation Lab. The CEC is a major provider of evaluation and applied research services, on-site and online professional development training, and evaluation conferences and events, and it supports The Evaluators’ Institute (TEI), CGU evaluation certificate programs, the new online program in evaluation and applied research, and a wide variety of residential master’s and doctoral degree programs at CGU. Located on the university campus in Claremont, the CEC has in recent years expanded its presence in Washington DC to amplify its positive social impact.

Donaldson has built a career rich in both academic and professional experience. He is past president of the American Evaluation Association (2015) and has served on numerous boards, including those of the International Positive Psychology Association, Western Psychological Association, Western Positive Psychology Association (co-founder), American Evaluation Association, Centre for Program Evaluation at the University of Melbourne, The Faster Forward Fund, Southern California Evaluation Association (co-founder), and EvalPartners. He currently serves as editor of the Evaluation and Society book series (with Jennifer Greene), and as a member of the editorial boards of the International Journal of Applied Positive Psychology, American Journal of Evaluation, New Directions for Evaluation, Evaluation & Program Planning, and Journal of Multidisciplinary Evaluation. He is also a fellow and on the council of representatives for the Western Psychological Association.

Donaldson has been honored with a plethora of prestigious international, national, and regional career achievement awards, including the Early Career Achievement Awards from the American Evaluation Association (1996) and the Western Psychological Association (2001). In 2013, he was presented with the American Evaluation Association’s (AEA) Lifetime Achievement Award, one of the highest honors in the field of evaluation, and the Paul F. Lazarsfeld Evaluation Theory Award for sustained lifetime written contributions to the advancement of evaluation theory. “As an author and full-time evaluation professional, I have learned a great deal in preparing this justification statement,” wrote one of his lead nominators, “and I come away convinced that Stewart Donaldson is probably our field’s most prolific theorist.”

Donaldson was also honored with the AEA’s 2017 Robert Ingle Service Award for his important contributions to the field of evaluation and the American Evaluation Association (AEA) over a long period of time. That recognition includes his serving as president of the AEA during the International Year of Evaluation in 2015, for six years of recent AEA Board Service, as director of the AEA Graduate Education Diversity Internship Program, as chair of the Program Theory and Theory-Driven Evaluation Topical Interest Group, and for his various leadership appointments and many evaluation training, mentoring, evaluation practice, and scholarly contributions.

In 2018, The Western Psychological Association (WPA) bestowed upon Donaldson the prestigious WPA Social Responsibility Award for his efforts to promote and increase social justice at the societal and individual levels. The WPA award selection committee unanimously chose Donaldson based on his record of research and publications, theory-based evaluations, and grants that are oriented toward social equality and boosting positive psychological outcomes.

He was also selected as the recipient of the AEA’s Alva and Gunnar Myrdal Evaluation Practice Award in 2018, which is presented to an evaluator who exemplifies outstanding evaluation practice and whose contributions to the field of evaluation have been substantial, sustained over a number of years, cumulative, and whose work is consistent with the AEA Guiding Principles for Evaluators. Outstanding evaluation practice is defined as leading or conducting evaluations of the highest possible quality and utility, as demonstrated through publications, documented stakeholder feedback, and other forms of evidence of influencing the field in which evaluations are performed. His nomination letter stated “he has served the AEA and the broader field of evaluation as a major thought leader as well as a practitioner [who] has done more to create the conditions for practice excellence in the United States and around the world than any other person.”

Most recently at International Positive Psychology Association’s (IPPA) World Congress of Positive Psychology in Melbourne Australia (July 2019), Professor Donaldson was honored with two career achievement awards. The 2019 IPPA Work and Organizations Division “Exemplary Research to Practice Award” was presented to Donaldson for many years of exemplary research and teaching, as well as a robust cumulative contribution to evidence-based practice related to fostering positive work and organizations. He was also awarded the IPPA 2019 “Inspiring Mentor Award.”  The student division of IPPA recognizes one outstanding mentor in the field of positive psychology who provides continued commitment and support to students that foster professional and academic development. Professor Donaldson was given this honor to acknowledge his many years of outstanding teaching and mentoring, and for inspiring the next generation of diverse psychological scientists to make meaningful contributions to societies across the globe.

Donaldson works collaboratively with his students and colleagues to publish findings from his extensive portfolio of extramurally funded research and evaluation projects. This work has been cited widely, including more than 200 peer-reviewed scientific articles, chapters, and evaluation reports. He has published or has forthcoming 18 books, including Positive Psychological Science: Improving Everyday Life, Health and Well-being, Work, Education, and Societies Across the Globe (forthcoming, 2020); Theory and research-driven evaluation science: Culturally responsive strategies and applications (forthcoming, 2020); Designing and evaluating positive organizational development interventions (forthcoming, 2020); Appreciative and Strengths-focused Evaluation (forthcoming, 2020); Toward a Positive Psychology of Relationships: New Directions in Theory and Research (2018); Scientific Advances in Positive Psychology (2017); Evaluation for an Equitable Society (2016); Credible and Actionable Evidence: The Foundation for Rigorous and Influential Evaluations (2015); Emerging Practices in International Development Evaluation (2013); The Future of Evaluation in Society: A Tribute to Michael Scriven (2013); Teaching Psychology Online: Tips and Techniques for Success (2012); Social Psychology and Evaluation (2011); Applied Positive Psychology: Improving Everyday Life, Health, Schools, Work, and Society (2011); Program Theory-Driven Evaluation Science: Strategies and Applications (2007); Applied Psychology: New Frontiers and Rewarding Careers (2006); and Evaluating Social Programs and Problems (2003).

Positran is directed by Dr Ilona Boniwell, one of the world leaders in the field of positive psychology, who founded and headed the first Masters Degree in Applied Positive Psychology (MAPP) in Europe. Nowadays, she heads the International MSc in Applied Positive Psychology (I-MAPP) at Anglia Ruskin University (UK and France), teaches Positive Management at l’Ecole Centrale Paris and HEC Business School, writes a monthly column for Psychologies (UK and Russia), and consults around the world as a director of Positran. Her main teaching expertise lies in the areas of positive psychology and positive scholarship, with research interests around: subjective time use, time perspective, eudaimonic well-being and applications of positive psychology to business, one-to-one work, and education.

Leona Brandwene, MAPP, PCC, serves as the Associate Director for the MAPP program, and works alongside the stellar MAPP instructional team to ensure a world-class educational experience for students in positive psychology. She supports program strategy, operations, planning, and development. Along with her work in positive psychology, Leona is a coach and consultant in health care, with a particular emphasis on building cultures that enable high-performing teams in quality and safety. She loves running, family, and supporting youth sports in her community, particularly crewing for her triathlete daughter, Sophie. She lives in Lancaster County with her husband Josh and 15-year-old daughter.

Jenny C. Brennan, MAPP, is a nonprofit consultant, strategist, and positive psychology practitioner, whose work advances the application of positive psychology at both the individual and systems levels to support human and societal flourishing.

Currently, Ms. Brennan provides educational resources and consultation to nonprofits that want to apply positive psychology science to their programming. She also serves as Director of Year-Round Programming to the International Positive Psychology Association (IPPA), where she oversees year-round programming, leads a team of consultants and volunteers, contributes to numerous capacity-building and communication initiatives, and produces the Positive Psychology Leader Series.

Ms. Brennan has 20 years of experience managing award-winning integrated marketing and public education campaigns for organizations such as the American Red Cross, University of Pennsylvania, and Lifetime Television’s Stop Violence Against Women initiative. Her work helped to impact policy and to inspire measurable action on the part of consumers. In 2012, she became one of the first 250 people in the world to earn a Master of Applied Positive Psychology from the University of Pennsylvania.

Alejandro Castro Solano, Ph.D in Psychology is a senior researcher at National Council of Scientific and Technical Research (CONICET, Argentina). He is a professor at the University of Palermo and University of Buenos Aires, where he teaches research methods and psychological assessment for undergraduate and postgraduate students. His research interests are related to test construction, leadership, and positive psychology. Currently he is in charge of the Psychology PhD Program at the University of Palermo. He has served as a member of the IPPA´s Board of Directors since 2009.

David serves as faculty Director of the Fowler Center for Business as an Agent of World Benefit. David is best known for his pioneering theory on Appreciative Inquiry and has served as advisor to senior executives in business and societal leadership roles, including projects with five Presidents and Nobel Laureates such as William Jefferson Clinton, His Holiness the Dalai Lama, Kofi Annan and others. In 2017 David received the Lifetime Achievement Award from the OD Network. Uniting theory and practice, Cooperrider has served as strategic advisor to a wide variety of organizations including Apple, Verizon, Johnson & Johnson, National Grid, Fairmount Minerals, Green Mountain Coffee Roasters, Sherwin Williams, Dealer Tire, Wal-Mart as well as American Red Cross, American Hospital Association, Cleveland Clinic, United Way.

David was named as Distinguished University Professor in 2016 and has published over 20 books and authored over 100 articles and book chapters. He served as editor of both the Journal of Corporate Citizenship with Ron Fry and the current research series for Advances for Appreciative Inquiry, with Michel Avital. In 2010 David was awarded the Peter F. Drucker Distinguished Fellow by the Drucker School of Management. Most recently, Champlain College honored David with an academic center called the David L. Cooperrider Center for Appreciative Inquiry. For the Center’s dedication Marty Seligman wrote: “David Cooperrider is a giant: a giant of discovery, a giant of dissemination, and a giant of generosity” while Harvard’s Jane Nelson at the Kennedy School of Leadership said: “David Cooperrider is one of the outstanding scholar-practitioners of our generation.”

Antonella Delle Fave, MD specialized in Clinical Psychology, is professor of Psychology at the Medical School, University of Milano, Italy. Her research activities are primarily focused on the investigation of flow experience, daily experience fluctuation, and well-being across cultures and among individuals exposed to conditions of diversity and adversity. Through her field work she contributed to building the largest international data bank on flow experience, collecting information in four continents among a variety of participants, including shepherds and farmers, artists, scientists, teachers, health professionals, members of spiritual communities and religious congregations, persons with mental and physical disabilities, and persons experiencing marginalization such as street children, homeless people and illegal migrants. During the last ten years, together with colleagues from 18 countries she has been implementing the “Eudaimonic and Hedonic Happiness Investigation” project, devoted to the study of well-being across cultures. She has been conducting research and intervention projects aimed at identifying and mobilizing psychological and social resources among persons with chronic diseases and their family caregivers.

More recently, the acquisition of a Master degree in the traditional medical system of Ayurveda led her to develop collaborations with Indian researchers and clinicians, aimed at exploring pathways of integration between Western science and Ayurveda, in order to expand knowledge and improve management of psychophysical health and disease. Her scientific production includes papers in international peer-reviewed journals, as well as authored and edited international books. She actively contributed to the international promotion and dissemination of positive psychology and well-being research as President of the International Positive Psychology Association (IPPA), the European Network of Positive Psychology (ENPP), and the Società Italiana di Psicologia Positiva (SIPP). Since 2010 she is serving as Editor in Chief of the Journal of Happiness Studies.

Barbara L. Fredrickson, Ph.D. is Kenan Distinguished Professor of Psychology and Neuroscience and Director of the Positive Emotions and Psychophysiology Lab (a.k.a. PEP Lab, www.PositiveEmotions.org) at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. She received her Ph.D. in psychology from Stanford University, with a minor in organizational behavior. Among the most highly cited and influential scholars in psychology, her research has been funded by the U.S. National Institutes of Health (NCI, NIA, NCCAM, NIMH, NINR). Dr. Fredrickson has published >100 peer-reviewed articles and her general audience books, Positivity (2009, Crown, www.PositivityRatio.com) and Love 2.0 (2013, Penguin, www.PositivityResonance.com) have been translated into more than a dozen languages. Dr. Fredrickson’s scholarly contributions have been recognized with numerous honors, including the inaugural Templeton Prize in Positive Psychology from the American Psychological Association, the Career Trajectory Award from the Society of Experimental Social Psychology, the inaugural Christopher Peterson Gold Medal from the International Positive Psychology Association, and the Tang Prize for Achievements in Psychology, awarded to recognize exceptional career contributions to the well-being of humanity. Dr. Fredrickson also served as President of the International Positive Psychology Association from 2015-2017. Her work has influenced scholars and practitioners worldwide, within education, business, healthcare, the military, and beyond, and she is regularly invited to give keynotes nationally and internationally.

Maria Elena Garassini is the representative for Venezuela for the IPPA (International Positive Psychology Association). Graduate in Psychology, Master in Psychology of Human Development and PhD in Psychology from the Central University of Venezuela, PhD in Didactics and Organization of Educational Institutions by the University of Seville in Spain, Specialist in Couple and Family Therapy (PROFAM Caracas in alliance with Center for Couples and Family Development, Florida, USA). Director of the School of Psychology of the Metropolitan University (UNIMET) and Coordinator and teacher of the Diploma Course in Positive Psychology of CENDECO-UNIMET until December 2017. Founding member and the Board of Directors of the Venezuelan Society of Positive Psychology (SOVEPPOS). Coordinator of the Positive Youth Development project initiated in alliance with UNICEF-UNIMET-SOVEPPOS. Compilator and author of chapters of books published in Venezuela regarding Positive Psychology by SOVEPPOS and the ALFA publishing house: Positive Psychology: Studies in Venezuela (SOVEPPOS, 2010); Lasting Happiness: Studies of well-being in Positive Psychology (ALFA, 2012); Venezuelan Strengths: well-being promotion through Positive Psychology (ALFA, 2014); Contributions of Positive Psychology to well-being at work: learning from a Venezuelan experience (SOVEPPOS, 2014); Positive Psychology in action: Start with what is right (SOVEPPOS, 2016). Tutor of undergraduate and postgraduate work in the area of Positive Psychology in the areas of Flow, Passion, Strengths of Character, Positive Youth Development, and Appreciative Inquiry. Author of scientific articles published in refereed journals.

Dora Gudmundsdottir is Director of Determinants of Health and Wellbeing at the Directorate of Health in Iceland. She is a governmental expert on mental health and National Focal point for Iceland in the EU Health Programme. Dora is trained clinical and organizational psychologist and holds a PhD in public health (epidemiology of wellbeing). Her research interests focus on the epidemiology on happiness, mental wellbeing and flourishing as well as studying the impact of the economic crises on happiness and mental wellbeing in Iceland. Her current research projects focus on evaluating wellbeing programmes in schools and primary health care. She is affiliated with the Wellbeing institute, Cambridge University, Director of Graduate Diploma programme on Positive Psychology at the University of Iceland, and the current president of the European Network for Positive Psychology (ENPP) www.enpp.eu

Dora is very interested in finding effective ways for individuals, institutions, and societies to flourish. She has a special interest in enhancing evidence-based knowledge in policy making and interventions. At the Directorate of Health in Iceland she leads the work on health promoting communities, health promoting workplaces and health promoting schools. Dora´s passion lies in translating the results obtained from quality research into everyday language so it can be easily accessed by the general public. In order to do so, Dora has for example written a number of articles for newspapers and magazines in Iceland. She is the author of a book on Wellbeing and Success in Icelandic and one of many authors of The World Book of Happiness (www.theworldbookofhappiness.com). She is also an author of a chapter in the book Positive Psychology for Social Change. Dora has been an invited speaker at several conferences all over the world for example at the World Health Organization’s conference on Health in All Policies, the European Conference on Positive Psychology and the first African Positive Psychology Conference.

John F. Helliwell, of the Vancouver School of Economics at the University of British Columbia, is Senior Fellow of the Canadian Institute for Advanced Research and Co-Director of CIFAR’s program on ‘Social Interactions, Identity and Well-Being’. Recent books include Well-Being for Public Policy (OUP, with Diener, Lucas and Schimmack, 2009), International Differences in Well-Being (OUP, edited with Diener and Kahneman, 2010), and five editions, 2012-2017, of the World Happiness Report (edited with Richard Layard and Jeffrey Sachs).

Hans Henrik Knoop is Associate Professor with distinction, Director of the Positive Psychology Research Unit at Aarhus University, Denmark, and Extraordinary Professor, North West University, South Africa. His work is focused on flourishing in education, work, and society with a strong interdisciplinary approach. His research within positive psychology has involved thousands of educators and leaders and data on well-being from almost 300,000 Danish pupils. At Aarhus University he co-directs the Master Program of Positive Psychology with almost 600 students enrolled since 2011, and has hosted international conferences relating to education and positive psychology in Denmark in 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2007, 2008, 2010, and 2017. He was the President of the European Network for Positive Psychology from 2010 to 2014 and served on the IPPA Board of Directors from 2009 to 2016. He was the host of the 5th ECPP in Copenhagen in 2010, and coresponsible for 6th ECPP in Moscow in 2012, and the 7th ECPP in Amsterdam in 2014. From 2007 to 2011 he was Research Director at the Universe Research Lab in Denmark heading a team of researchers focusing on combined engagement, excellence, and ethics in education, involving approximately 10.000 pupils, 1.500 teachers and 150 school leaders. From 2006-2009 he was academically responsible for the TV-program Plan B and follow-ups – focused on bringing positive psychology to bear on pupils with reading difficulty. The first series of the program ran for six weeks and reached a prime-time viewer share of one third of all Danes watching television, received the second highest viewer rating in the history of the TV-channel TV2 (Denmark’s largest at the time), with the first episode nominated for a Golden Rose in Montreux. From 1996 to 2010 he was heading the Nordic Branch of The GoodWork Project led by peers Howard Gardner, Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi and William Damon with comprehensive in-depth interviewing regarding excellence, engagement, and ethics, as understood by Nordic educators, leaders, journalists, and politicians including a European Commissioner, a Prime Minister and four other ministers. He has authored and co-authored more than 200 publications including 9 books. He has delivered more than thousand invited keynotes and lectures in Denmark and at conferences in Australia, Austria, Croatia, China, Finland, France, Germany, Iceland, Latvia, Lithuania, Norway, Portugal, Russia, Scotland, South Africa, Slovenia, Spain, The Philippines, the U.K. and the U.S, and is a frequent commentator in newspapers, radio and television on matters of learning, creativity, ethics, and positive psychology.