IPPA Fellows 2013

Dr. Shane Lopez was the world’s leading researcher on hope. As Senior Scientist at Gallup and Research Director of the Clifton Strengths Institute, Lopez leads research on the measurement of hope, as well as its relationship with strengths development, academic success, and overall well-being. He is coauthor of the statistical reports for the Clifton StrengthsFinder and the Clifton Youth StrengthsExplorer. Dr. Lopez has published over 100 journal articles and book chapters and he has edited or authored seven books including the Oxford Handbook of Positive Psychology and Making Hope Happen: Create the Future You Want in Business and Life, which details how hope can be learned and spread to others.

Professor Lea Waters (PhD) holds the Gerry Higgins Chair in Positive Psychology and is the Director of the Centre for Positive Psychology at the University of Melbourne. Lea a registered psychologist (AHPRA), a full member of the Australian Psychological Society (APS) and a full member of the APS College of Organisational Psychologist. Lea holds an Affiliate position with Cambridge University’s Wellbeing Institute in the United Kingdom and the Centre for Positive Organizations at the University of Michigan in the United Kingdom. She is the Chair of the Scientific Committee for the 4^th World Congress of Positive Psychology.

Lea is internationally recognised for her research and has published and presented in the United Kingdom, Canada, U.S.A., Asia and Europe. She has published over 70 scientific articles and book chapter as well as speaking at over 100 academic conferences. She is a regular contributor to the Journal of Positive Psychology.

Lea was named the Australian and New Zealand Academy of Management Educator of the Year in 2004, received an Australian University Individual Teaching Excellence Award from the Prime Minister in 2007 as well as team Citation for Outstanding Contributions to Student Learning from the Australian Government’s Office for Teaching and Learning in 2013.

Dr. Lyubomirsky is a Professor in the Department of Psychology at the University of California, Riverside, where she has been recognized with the Faculty of the Year and Faculty Mentor of the Year Awards. Dr. Lyubomirsky’s research focuses on the concept of sustainable happiness, practicing gratitude and kindness as interventions, and the impact of genetic and environmental influences to happiness-increasing interventions. Her research has been awarded a Templeton Positive Psychology Prize, and grants from the Science of Generosity, John Templeton Foundation, and National Institute of Mental Health. Dr. Lyubomirsky is a fellow at the Association for Psychological Science and the Society for Social and Personality Psychology. She is the author of The How of Happiness, now translated and published in 19 countries, and The Myths of Happiness.

Dr. Park is a Professor in the Psychology Department and the Director of the Michigan Positive Psychology Center at the University of Michigan. Her main research reflects a psychology of human strengths. Her research topics include character strengths, moral excellence, positive relationships, life meaning, positive experiences, and strength-based practice, and their role in resiliency, well-being, health, family, work, and education. She has taken the lead in developing ways to assess character strengths among children and youth and in conducting cross-cultural investigations. She played a major role for US Army-Soldier resilience and psychological fitness project and Positive Education project in Australia. She is a fellow at the Association of Psychological Science and International Positive Psychology Association, and a former Templeton Research Fellow at the Positive Psychology Center of the University of Pennsylvania. She is a member of the International Positive Psychology Association (IPPA) steering committee, a Consulting Editor for the Journal of Positive Psychology, and a former Associate Editor for the Applied Psychology: Health and Well-being.