IPPA Council of Advisors

where he focuses on positive psychology, learned helplessness, depression, ethno-political conflict, and optimism. He is a best-selling author of several books including, most recently, Flourish. He received the American Psychological Society’s William James Fellow Award for basic science and Cattell Award for the application of science, and two Distinguished Scientific Contribution awards from the American Psychological Association. In 1996, Seligman was elected president of the American Psychological Association by the largest vote in modern history. His current mission is the attempt to transform social science to work on the best things in life—virtue, positive emotion, good relationships, and positive institutions—and not just on healing pathology.

Because of his work on adolescent well-being, he was awarded the Distinguished QOL Researcher Award by the International Society for Quality-of-Life Studies.

Daniel is passionate about teaching and youth development. He has implemented four subjects on leadership and Service Learning with an enrolment of 18,000+ students. He has received several teaching awards, including four QS Reimagine Education Awards (two bronze, one gold and one silver awards) and the University Grants Committee Teaching Award.

Daniel is committed to community service. He is the former Chairman of Action Committee against Narcotics and current Chairman of the Family Council in Hong Kong. Because of his community service, he has been awarded the Bronze Bauhinia Star and Silver Bauhinia Star by the Government of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region.

With more than two decades of academic experience, she has played a pivotal role in advancing positive psychology in the Indian context. Her work spans key areas including Positive Psychology and Its Applications, psychometrics, Psychological Interventions, Indian Knowledge Systems (IKS) and Positive Psychology.

Dr. Singh has authored more than 100 peer-reviewed journal articles. She has also co-authored three books published by Springer and Sage: “Measures of Positive Psychology: Development and Validation” (2016), “Translational Research and Applied Psychology in India” (2019), and “Religious and Spiritual Practices in India: A Positive Psychological Perspective” (2023). She is the author of the award-winning book in Hindi, “Bhartiya Sandharbh me Vyavahrik Skaratmak manovigyan (2018),” which received the ‘Rajbhasha Gaurav Award’ from the Ministry of Home Affairs, Govt. of India. Her research endeavours have attracted funding from reputable bodies including the World Bank, ICMR, Rajya Anand Sansthan, Bhopal (M.P.), and ICSSR.

In recognition of her outstanding contributions, she was also the recipient of the prestigious ‘Shane J. Lopez Award for Professional Contributions in Positive Psychology 2019’ by the American Psychological Association (APA).

She is an active contributor to the mental health space through public outreach and community engagement initiatives. She serves on the Board of Directors of the International Positive Psychology Association (IPPA) and is the Secretary of the National Positive Psychology Association (NPPA; National Positive Psychology Association | NPPA), an Indian academic body on positive psychology she founded with fellow Indian experts in the field. She also runs the YouTube channel in Hindi  ‘Manthan- Gyan aur Vigyan‘ to promote mental health awareness within Indian communities.

Detailed information on her extensive publications and other academic activities can be found on her website: http://web.iitd.ac.in/~singhk/.

Andrew was a long-time IPPA volunteer and board member before becoming the Executive Director of IPPA. He has played a central role in guiding the organization’s operations and co-chaired the 2023 World Congress in Vancouver. As Executive Director, he partners with the Board to advance IPPA’s mission, foster global collaboration, and strengthen the value the association offers to its members worldwide. Beyond IPPA, Andrew is the Founder of Eudaimonic by Design, a consulting network that helps make work a place where people bring their best to do good. He is also part of the instructional team for the Master of Applied Positive Psychology (MAPP) program at the University of Pennsylvania. He is recognized for his work on meaningful work and eudaimonic organizations. Based in Halifax, Canada, Andrew is passionate about the arts, culture, and creating spaces where people can do extraordinary things together.

Dr. Philip Streit is a trained clinical and health psychologist, NLP Master Practitioner, Psychotherapist, Supervisor, and Social and Life Coach. He is Head of the Institute and the Academy for Child, Youth and Family (IKJF) e.U. in Graz, Austria, Director of the Institute for Positive Psychology and Mental Coaching, Coordinator for Seligman Europe, and a current member of the IPPA Board of Directors. Dr. Streit has been working actively in the field of positive psychology since 2009, specializing in psychological interventions for counseling, coaching and therapy.

As part of the positive psychological platform, Seligman Europe, Dr. Streit organized symposia, lectures, and seminars on positive psychology.  In 2011, he developed training for Applied Positive Psychology in German-speaking countries in collaboration with Prof. Martin Seligman and the University of Pennsylvania (USA)

That same year he founded the Institute for Positive Psychology and Mental Coaching in Graz, where he regularly conducts workshops and holds regular seminars entitled:  “Positive Psychology – practice-oriented concepts and interventions for school psychologists and school psychologists “and “Applied Positive Psychology – Positive Leadership.”

His current research includes a project of the Institute for Positive Psychology and Mental Coaching in cooperation with the Department of geriatric psychiatry at the Landesnervenklinik Sigmund Freud in Graz about wellbeing “A positive psychological intervention program for depressed people over 65 years.” He has also recently embarked on a project to develop the German version of Positive Psychotherapy Inventory (Rashid, 2013) and the PERMA profiler (Kern, 2012).

Margarita Tarragona is a psychologist who specializes in coaching and psychotherapy. She received her Ph.D. in Psychology from the University of Chicago. She has been the director of the Instituto de Ciencias de la Felicidad Tecmilenio in Mexico, created the Diploma in Positive Psychology at the Universidad Iberoamericana and is on the faculty of the Certificate in Positive Psychology (CIPP) program for Latin America. She co-founded and teaches in Grupo Campos Elíseos, a training institute for psychotherapists.

In her work as a clinician and coach, Margarita incorporates scientific findings on human flourishing from positive psychology, with collaborative and narrative ways of working with clients to generate dialogue, expand their life stories and discover new possibilities. Margarita is on the advisory board of directors of IPPA, is the president of the Mexican Positive Psychology Society (SMPP) and is a global representative of IPEN, the International Positive Education Network. She publishes regularly, both in academic journals and books, and in popular media.

Dr George E. Vaillant is a Professor of Psychiatry at Harvard Medical School and the Department of Psychiatry, Massachusetts General Hospital.  Dr. Vaillant has spent his research career charting adult development and the recovery process of schizophrenia, heroin addiction, alcoholism, and personality disorder.  He spent 35 years as Director of the Study of Adult Development at the Harvard University Health Service.  The study has prospectively charted the lives of 824 men and women for almost 70 years.  His published works include Adaptation to Life, 1977, The Wisdom of The Ego, 1993, The Natural History of Alcoholism-Revisited, 1995, and Aging Well, 2002, Spiritual Evolution, 2008 and Triumphs of Experience, 2012

A graduate of Harvard College and Harvard Medical School, Dr. Vaillant did his residency at the Massachusetts Mental Health Center and completed his psychoanalytic training at the Boston Psychoanalytic Institute. He has been a Fellow at the Center for the Advanced Study in the Behavioral Sciences, is a Fellow of the American College of Psychiatrists and a founding member of Positive Psychology.  A major focus of his work in the past has been individual adult development; more recently he has been interested in positive emotions and their relationship to community development. He is a past Class A trustee of Alcoholics Anonymous and is currently on the Steering Committee of Positive Psychology. Dr. Vaillant has received the Foundations Fund Prize for Research in Psychiatry from the American Psychiatric Association, the Strecker Award from The Institute of Pennsylvania Hospital, and the Jellinek Award for research in alcoholism.  Most recently he received The Distinguished Service Award from the American Psychiatric Association.

His research focuses on motivational processes and especially passion for activities. He has served as President of the Canadian Psychological Association and the International Positive Psychology Association. He served as President of the 2^nd World Congress on Positive Psychology (Philadelphia, 2011). He is a Fellow of more than 15 associations, including the American Psychological Association (and Fellow of 5 APA Divisions), the Association for Psychological Science, and many others. He has received numerous awards, including the Christopher Peterson Gold Medal Award from the International Positive Psychology Association, the William James Award from the American Psychological Association for his 2015 book, The Psychology of Passion with Oxford University Press, and the Sport Science Award from the International Olympic Committee.

She is also Head of Research and the inaugural Director of the Master of Applied Positive Psychology program (2013 – 2015) at the Centre for Positive Psychology. Dianne is a Member of the Australian Psychological Society and College of Health Psychologists, and an inaugural Editor in Chief of the Psychology of Well-Being journal (2011-2016).  She has served as Treasurer and Secretary of the International Positive Psychology Association (IPPA) and is currently on the IPPA Council of Advisors.  Dianne founded the Australian Positive Psychology Network and has co-directed three Australian Positive Psychology and Well-being conferences. Her work is well published in scientific journals and she has received 2.8 million dollars of funding including three Australian Research Council grants. She has worked with not for profit organisations, schools from all sectors, community services and large commercial organisations to assess and promote well-being for all. She is especially interested in enhancing the well-being of individuals and groups by working in partnership with them to listen to their experiences, understand their needs and co-create well-being programs that consider the whole person and the complex system in which they interact. Dianne’s methods are diverse and include the latest technological advances for health promotion and building resilience. She also integrates ethical and professional practice issues in much of her work and has extensive experience with scale development.

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.

He is a member of the School of Education’s Leadership Team and the Program Director for the Master of Education degree where he lectures on educational leadership, and wellbeing education. He is also a Principal Fellow in the Melbourne Graduate School of Education and an Associate Professor at the University of Melbourne.

He is a member of the Australian Association for Research in Education (AARE), Australian Teacher Education Association (ATEA), American Educational Research Association (AERA) and British Educational Research Association (BERA).

Mathew has published research and co-edited three ground-breaking books on wellbeing education including:

• Future Directions in Wellbeing: Education, Organizations, and Policy (Springer, 2017)
• Flourishing in Faith: Theology Encountering Positive Psychology. Cascade Books. Wipf and Stock Publishers, Eugene, Oregon.
• Evidence-Based Approaches in Positive Education Implementing a Strategic Framework for Well-being in Schools (Springer, 2015)

His next book Wellbeing Education and Professional Practice – Transforming Teaching is co-authored with Professor Faye McCallum (Springer, 2020).

He is a member of the Australian Association for Research in Education (AARE), Australian Teacher Education Association (ATEA), American Educational Research Association (AERA) and British Educational Research Association (BERA).

He is a Council Appointed Member of the School Council of St Peter’s Woodlands Grammar School, Past Chair of the Positive Education Schools Association South Australian Chapter (2017-19) and Past Secretary (2016). He is a Global Representative for the International Positive Education Network (IPEN).

Before his appointment to the University of Adelaide, Mathew held senior leadership positions in schools for a decade. He has over 20 years of teaching experience and is a Fellow of the Australian College of Educators.

She has teaching experience in clinical, general and Positive Psychology (PP) at various South African and European universities. She developed a research programme in Psychofortology (i. e. the science of psychological strengths; FORT) including several funded team projects, with also links to multidisciplinary projects. Her current research focus is on the understanding, measurement and promotion of psychosocial well-being and strengths in diverse contexts, with emphasis on meaning, goals, relational wellbeing, and cultures of positivity. She is a member of the international Eudaimonic-Hedonic Happiness Investigation (EHHI) project lead by Antonella Delle Fave.  Marié is an Associate Editor of the Journal of Happiness studies, and a member of the editorial board of several other disciplinary journals. Her scientific output includes peer reviewed articles, chapters in scientific books, and books including Well-being Research in South Africa.  She initiated the First PP Conference in South Africa, and the first master’s degree in Positive Psychology in Africa. 115 masters and doctoral degree students completed their studies under her (co-)supervision. She is on the Council of Advisors for the International Positive Psychology Association (IPPA).