IPPA Council of Advisors

A practicing psychiatric clinician, Dr. Norman is deeply committed to helping individuals achieve optimal mental and physical wellbeing.

She holds a Master’s degree in Biomedical Science and is a graduate of the University of Pennsylvania’s prestigious Master of Applied Positive Psychology (MAPP) program. She later earned her Doctorate in Medical Science, further advancing her clinical and academic expertise.

Dr. Norman has been an engaged and dynamic member of the International Positive Psychology Association (IPPA) for over a decade. Throughout her tenure, she has contributed in numerous roles—including webinar presenter, panelist, session facilitator, and invited speaker at IPPA World Congresses. She currently serves as the incoming President of IPPA’s Health & Wellbeing Division.

Her research explores non-traditional pathways to health and longevity, focusing on evidence-informed practices outside of conventional Western medicine. These include the therapeutic benefits of music engagement, volunteerism, forgiveness, digital detoxing, and immersion in nature.

An accomplished writer and editor, Dr. Norman has published articles in The Journal of Urgent Care Medicine, Positive Psychology News Daily, and The Chronicle, the official publication of IPPA’s Health & Wellbeing Division. She has also served as an editor for both the American College of Lifestyle Medicine (ACLM) and The Chronicle, and sits on the advisory board for the Global Positive Health Institute (GPHI).

As she steps into her role as President of the Health & Wellbeing Division, Dr. Norman is enthusiastic about leading the division through a period of revitalization and transformation, including a new charter and upcoming name change. Stay tuned for what’s next.

She is also a Professor in the Doctoral Program in Psychology at the Pontificia Universidad Católica and leads projects on positive psychology at the Interdisciplinary Research Center for Health and Behavioral Sciences, at Universidad Adventista del Plata. Her research focuses on identifying and fostering psychological strengths in children and adolescents, as well as enhancing the emotional quality of their everyday environments, such as families and schools.

Among other recognitions, Laura received the CAESPO award (Argentine Committee for Population Health Education) for designing and implementing interventions to promote positive emotions in children living in poverty and social vulnerability. This experience led to her latest book (2nd ed.), How to Inspire Positive Emotions in Children: A Guide for Schools and Families (co-authors: Richaud de Minzi and Esparcia). Laura has over 20 years of teaching experience in undergraduate and graduate programs and has supervised numerous master’s and doctoral theses. She has also led nationally funded research projects and published articles, book chapters, and books related to positive psychology and mental health.

Throughout her career, Laura has served as Regional Delegate, Vice President, and President of the Argentine Association of Behavioral Sciences (a member of IUPsyS), and as Director of the Research Department at the Instituto Superior Adventista de Misiones. She currently serves as Scientific Advisor to the Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences at Universidad Adventista del Plata.

On a personal note, Laura is the mother of two teenagers and enjoys spending her free time with her family, cooking, enjoying nature, and writing.

Rhea’s research involves the application of positive psychology, strengths, and well-being, with a particular interest in children and youth. Her clinical expertise involves neuropsychological assessment and child/adolescent services.

Nansook 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.

where he co-founded the Master of Applied Positive Psychology Program with Martin Seligman. The Founding Executive Director of IPPA, he is currently leading a three-year, multi-million-dollar grant investigating connections between the science of well-being and the arts and humanities.

Professor Kaiping Peng is currently the dean of the school of social sciences, chair of the psychology department at Tsinghua University. He was a tenured faculty member at the Department of Psychology of the University of California at Berkeley before returning to China in 2009. He received his Ph.D. in Social Psychology from the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor in 1997. Before coming to the US in 1989, he had been a faculty member at the Psychology Department of Peking University of China for five years. He had been the head of the social/personality psychology area in Berkeley, member of the American Psychological Association Leadership Council, executive committee of the Institute of East-Asian Studies, steering committee for the Diversity Research at UC Berkeley, the co-president of the Fifth International Conference of Chinese Psychologists Worldwide, the founding President of Chinese Positive Psychology Association and the board member of the International Positive Psychology Association, and numerous other national and international professional academic services. Since 2008, he has been the founding chair of the Psychology Department of Tsinghua University, also directs the Happiness Technology Lab and the Tsinghua Berkeley Center for Psychological Studies。 He has published eight books and more than 300 articles and essays on cultural and social psychology, as well as methodological issues of psychology. According to many surveys, he had been the world most cited social psychologist at the associate professor level until 2007, and one of the most cited Chinese psychologists in the world. His new book on positive psychology has been on the top ten best seller list on Amazon China.

Generally, my research examines the role that positive emotions and other positive factors play in influencing stress and health outcomes. I am especially interested in exactly how these factors “get under the skin” to influence our well-being and protect us against the harmful effects of stress. Pathways that I have examined include physiological processes such as stress hormone reactivity, cardiovascular response, immune system change, as well as health behaviors like sleeping, exercise, and other leisure activities. I also do research on the role of these positive psychosocial factors in buffering the detrimental effects of stress. For example, I am interested in whether happiness is associated with an improved ability to handle stress, both from a psychological and a physiological standpoint. I am also very interested in using relationship and emotion markers outside of self-report as predictors of health. For example, computerized word encoding of writing, or positive facial emotion expression (e.g., smiling) as alternative, unobtrusive methods of understanding individual differences.

Her work specifically focuses on exploring the intersection of positive psychology, spirituality, and flourishing through a scientific lens, and translating research findings into engaging, embodied interventions with a strong empirical foundation.

This work has been largely inspired by Maya’s lifelong quest to understand and harness the foundational elements of wellbeing at a personal level, through an integrative and multi-faceted approach. Though born and raised in Singapore, Maya has spent the last decade of her life traveling extensively and studying a vast range of contemplative practices from various wisdom traditions. Pursuing the academic study of psychology in concert with the applied study of spiritual traditions has awakened a depth of purpose within Maya that drives all her endeavors.

The growth that she has experienced through her invigorating journey of scientific inquiry, daily contemplative practice, and mindful movement has inspired many soulful connections. It has imbued Maya’s experiences of life with profound meaning and fueled a dedication to lifelong learning and authentic sharing that is anchored in her heartfelt intention to lovingly serve others.

He is a Faculty Associate with the Human Flourishing Program at Harvard and a visiting scientist at the Chan School of Public Health, Harvard. Dr. Rashid is also a faculty member with the VIA Institute on Character and an Honorary Fellow at the Centre for Wellbeing Science, University of Melbourne.

Dr. Rashid’s expertise includes strength-based clinical psychotherapy for complex mental health challenges, resilience, and post-traumatic growth.

He completed his pre- and post-doctoral clinical training at the University of Pennsylvania under Dr. Martin Seligman, where he developed and empirically validated the Positive Psychotherapy protocol. Dr. Rashid has worked with individuals who have experienced severe trauma, including survivors of the 2004 Asian Tsunami, 9/11 families, journalists in conflict zones, and survivors of mass shootings and high-suicide-risk areas.

He has delivered over fifty invited talks and keynotes and has trained mental health professionals and educators in more than 25 countries. His books Positive Psychotherapy (2018), co-authored with Martin Seligman, and Strengths-Based Resilience (2025), co-authored with colleagues, are considered among the most comprehensive, evidence-based, and culturally informed positive psychology intervention protocols. These works have been translated into several languages.

Dr. Rashid serves on the Board of Directors for both the International Positive Psychology Association (IPPA) and the VIA Institute on Character. He received the Chancellor Award (2018) from the University of Toronto and the Outstanding Practitioner Award (2017) from the International Positive Psychology Association (IPPA).

Dr. Rashid has been deeply engaged with IPPA since its inception in 2007. He served as the founding president of the Clinical Division (2016–2019) and co-authored the Ethical Guidelines for Positive Psychology Practice, now translated into 11 languages. He has completed two terms on the IPPA Board of Directors and currently chairs the IPPA Credentialing Task Force, leading the development of global standards for positive psychology education and training. In 2023, he co-chaired the World Congress of Positive Psychology in Vancouver alongside Roy Baumeister and Andrew Soren and has been a regular presenter at every World Congress and several regional conferences. His work continues to shape the field’s scientific rigor, ethical grounding, and cultural relevance.

Websites:

www.tayyabrashid.com

Strengths Based Resilience

Positive Psychotherapy

Reb Rebele is a Senior Research Fellow for the Wharton People Analytics initiative at the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania and a Ph.D. candidate in the Personality Processes Lab in the School of Psychological Sciences at the University of Melbourne. Reb earned his Master of Applied Positive Psychology (MAPP) degree at the University of Pennsylvania and taught in that program for nearly 10 years. His research aims to understand consistency and flexibility in human motivation and behavior – particularly in the context of work – and has been conducted with a number of national and international organizations. Reb’s research and writing has appeared in academic journals (Proceedings of the National Academy of Science), books (Flourishing in Work, Life, and Careers), and industry publications (Harvard Business Review, Sloan Management Review). After completing MAPP, he worked on a diverse portfolio of positive psychology projects, including serving as part of a resilience training team working with the U.S. Army and groups of educators, speaking and guest-lecturing on applied psychology topics to organizations and conferences, and working as a strategic advisor to the International Positive Psychology Association.

Professor Willibald Ruch is a founding member of the International Positive Psychology Association (IPPA) and currently chair of the section of personality and assessment at the University of Zürich, Switzerland. He received his PhD from the University of Graz, Austria in 1980 and later worked at different universities in Germany, the UK and Switzerland. He taught various courses on personality and assessment at different universities (e.g. Düsseldorf, Berlin, Frankfurt, Belfast, Zürich) and he has authored about than 300 journal articles and book chapters and co-edited and co-written five books. Willibald is co-editing or on the editorial board of several journals (including Journal of Individual Differences, Journal of Research in Personality, Journal of Positive Psychology), and co-editor of two book series. Currently he is working on positive psychology traits (e.g., character strengths and virtues; orientations to happiness, cheerfulness, humor) in adults and children/adolescents and their role in contributing to the good life. He is the founder and current president the Swiss Positive Psychology Association (www.swippa.ch), IPPA Fellow and senior scientist at the VIA Institute of character.

She heads the Community, Meaning, and Recovery (C.M.R.) Research and Development Center as well as the Resilience and the Optimal Development Lab at Achva Academic College. Her primary research and practical interests center on meaning in life, positive psychology, existential psychology, spirituality, character strengths, and processes of positive change and growth.

Prof. Russo-Netzer is the founder and director of the Compass Institute for the Study and Application of Meaning in Life and the head of the Academic Training Program in Logotherapy (meaning-oriented psychotherapy) at Tel Aviv University. She serves as an academic advisor and consultant to academic institutions and organizations around the world—including the World Trade Center Health Registry (WTCHR).

She is the recipient of the Spirituality and Meaning Researcher Award from the International Positive Psychology Association (IPPA) and the Early Career Award from the International Society for the Science of Existential Psychology (ISSEP). Prof. Russo-Netzer is an Associate Editor at Current Psychology and has published numerous academic articles and book chapters. She is the co-author and co-editor of several books, including Meaning in Positive and Existential Psychology (Springer), Clinical Perspectives on Meaning: Positive and Existential Psychotherapy (Springer), Existential Authenticity (Springer), Finding Meaning: An Existential Quest in Post-Modern Israel (Oxford University Press), and more.

She is deeply passionate about building bridges—across disciplines and between theory and real-life practice—in therapy, organizations, communities, and education across the lifespan.