Tina Dacin is a Professor of Strategy and Organizational Behavior at the Smith School of Business, Queen's University, Canada. She holds the Stephen J.R. Smith Chair and serves as Director of the Community Impact Research Program. Her roles include former Director of the Smith School’s Centre for Social Impact, former University Senate member, and former Chair of the Principal’s Innovation Fund Committee. She co-founded the Community of Social Innovation Chair and holds affiliations with the Academy of Management and Informs. Education: Ph.D. (1993) in Business Administration from the University of Toronto and M.A. in Psychology from the University of New Brunswick. Research focuses on cultural heritage, social innovation/entrepreneurship, strategic alliances, and globalization. Key themes include custodianship, tradition preservation, place-making, and institutional dynamics. Recent work explores craft-based ventures, place-sensitive organizational practices, and institutional renewal in crises like the Detroit water wars. Awards: None explicitly listed, though her chair position reflects academic distinction. Teaching includes courses on global social impact and analytics/ethics policy. Labs/Teams: Leadership in the Community Impact Research Program and the Scotiabank Centre for Customer Analytics.
Dr. Yawei Zhao is a Lecturer in Human Geography at the University of Manchester. She specializes in digital technologies, urbanization, and lifestyle migration. Her research explores data centers, PropTech, and the intersection of lifestyle migration with small city urbanization. Funded by the British Academy, IJURR Foundation, and Mitacs Canada, her work appears in journals like Urban Geography and Housing Studies . Prior to Manchester, she was a sessional instructor at the University of Calgary, where she earned her PhD in Geography. She holds degrees from McGill University, City University of Hong Kong, and National University of Singapore. Her research interests include urban governance, ecological civilization, and China's urban dynamics. Notable projects examine the Belt and Road Initiative's AI governance platforms and the impact of virtual tourism on cultural heritage sites. She co-leads PhD supervision on topics such as internal migration in China and animal rights in urban governance. Dr. Zhao actively contributes to interdisciplinary platforms like Digital Futures, Manchester China Institute, and Manchester Urban Institute. She organized the 2022–2023 conference ‘Making Rent: Generational Inequality and the Housing Crisis.’
Claire Battershill is an Assistant Professor jointly appointed in the Faculty of Information and the Department of English at the University of Toronto. She holds a PhD from the University of Toronto and a BA (Hons) from the University of Oxford. Her research focuses on the history and future of the book, with a particular emphasis on feminist experimental publishing, literary aesthetics, and 20th/21st-century publishing practices. She is Co-Director of the Modernist Archives Publishing Project (MAPP), a critical digital archive of early 20th-century publishers’ records, and Co-Creator of the SSHRC-funded 'Make Believe' research-creation project. Her publications include Women and Letterpress Printing: Gendered Impressions (2022) and Using Digital Humanities in the Classroom (2022). Dr. Battershill has held prestigious roles such as Wendy M. Cecil Professor in VicOne at Victoria College and Fellow of the Royal Historical Society. She has secured grants including the SSHRC Impact Award (2017) and funding from the Canada Council for the Arts. Her teaching spans courses like INF2228H (The Future of Things: Digitization and Remediation) and BKS1002H (Book History in Practice), blending theory with hands-on engagement in digital humanities and book studies. Her research interests span digital humanities pedagogy, collaborative publishing projects, and the intersection of feminist theory with material book culture. She actively contributes to interdisciplinary initiatives like the Critical Digital Humanities Initiative (CDHI) at the University of Toronto.
Professor Ana Mijic is a leading academic in water systems integration at Imperial College London's Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering (Faculty of Engineering). Her work focuses on developing systems tools to balance economic growth with sustainable water use, flood management, and water quality under future uncertainties. She leads high-profile projects like the EPSRC VENTURA initiative and the NERC CAMELLIA impact programme, emphasizing adaptive planning and grey/green infrastructure integration in urban systems. Education: BEng (First Class) in Civil Engineering from the University of Belgrade (Serbia), MSc (Distinction) in Hydrology for Environmental Management, and PhD in Earth Science & Engineering from Imperial College London (2013). Previously served as a teaching assistant in Fluid Mechanics and Hydrometry at Belgrade University. Research interests include whole-water system modelling, socio-hydrological interactions, and nature-based solutions for resilient urban water systems. Her work bridges academia and practice through partnerships with regulators like the UK Environment Agency and global initiatives like the IAHS HELPING programme. Awards include the Satish Dhawan Visiting Chair Professorship (2022) and the 2019 Imperial President’s Award for Excellence in Research (as part of her Hydrology team). She co-leads Imperial’s Transition to Zero Pollution (TZP) Urban Ecosystems theme and serves on editorial boards for journals like Water Security . Her contributions span over 50 peer-reviewed articles (2020–2025), focusing on integrated water management frameworks, AI-driven monitoring, and systemic approaches to urban resilience. She advocates for participatory decision-making and policy coherence in water governance.
Sean F. Reardon is the Professor of Poverty and Inequality in Education and a Senior Fellow at the Stanford Institute for Economic Policy Research (SIEPR) at Stanford University . He also holds a Professor (by courtesy) of Sociology . His work focuses on social and educational inequality, including residential and school segregation, racial/ethnic and socioeconomic disparities in academic achievement, and causal inference methods. Education: Ed.D., Harvard University, Educational Administration, Planning, and Social Policy (1997) M.Ed., Harvard University, Educational Administration, Planning and Social Policy (1992) M.A., University of Notre Dame, International Peace Studies (1991) B.A., University of Notre Dame, Program of Liberal Studies; Minor in Honors Mathematics (1986) Research Interests center on the causes and patterns of educational and racial inequality, the effects of school integration policies, and income inequality's social consequences. His Stanford Educational Opportunity Research Lab analyzes achievement gaps and segregation trends across U.S. school districts using large-scale datasets. Recent Publications highlight cross-national achievement gap comparisons, pandemic recovery disparities, and methodological advancements in segregation measurement. His work often integrates Data Sciences and Sociology to address policy-relevant questions. Awards Elected Member, American Academy of Arts and Sciences Elected Member, National Academy of Education Advising includes mentoring Doctoral Students like Tyler McDaniel and Postdoctoral Researchers like Farah Mallah. His Stanford Interdisciplinary Doctoral Training Program in Quantitative Education Policy Analysis (2009–2021) trained future scholars in rigorous policy methods.
Paolo Gardoni is the Alfredo H. Ang Family Professor and an Excellence Faculty Scholar in the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, with additional professorial appointments in Industrial & Enterprise Systems Engineering and Biomedical & Translational Sciences. He also serves as Director of the MAE Center and Editor-in-Chief of Reliability Engineering & System Safety. Education Ph.D. in Civil Engineering, University of California, Berkeley (2002) M.A. in Statistics, University of California, Berkeley (2001) M.Eng. in Structural Engineering, University of Tokyo (1997) Laurea (BS+MS equivalent) in Structural Engineering, Politecnico di Milano (1997) Research Interests Gardoni’s scholarship integrates probabilistic methods with large-scale infrastructure systems to advance reliability, risk, and life-cycle analysis. His work quantifies the performance of deteriorating systems under natural and anthropogenic hazards, models societal impacts of disasters, and develops decision frameworks for sustainable and resilient infrastructure. He also examines ethical, social, and legal dimensions of risk, and investigates optimal strategies for hazard mitigation, disaster recovery, and climate adaptation. Across more than 250 refereed journal papers, he has advanced sub-fields ranging from probabilistic mechanics and earthquake engineering to catastrophe bond pricing and engineering ethics, leveraging tools such as stochastic differential equations, Bayesian networks, and physics-informed machine learning. Awards & Honors Alfredo Ang Award on Risk Analysis and Management of Civil Infrastructure (ASCE, 2021) Best Paper Awards in ASCE Journal of Sustainable Water in the Built Environment (2019) and Geotechnical Research (2018 Telford Premium Prize) Fellowships and named professorships: Alfredo H. Ang Family Professor, Excellence Faculty Scholar, and courtesy or honorary professorships at Tsinghua, IIT Guwahati, Tongji, Jianghan, and Loughborough universities. Research Leadership & Funding Gardoni has secured over $58 million in research funding from NSF, DHS, NIST, USAID, Qatar National Research Fund, and other agencies. He directs the MAE Center—formerly an NSF Engineering Research Center—focused on multi-hazard engineering approaches, and is Editor-in-Chief of Reliability Engineering & System Safety (Elsevier, IF 9.4). He founded and formerly led the journal Sustainable and Resilient Infrastructure (Taylor & Francis) and serves on editorial boards of nine additional journals. Advising & Mentorship He has graduated 27 PhD and 35 Master’s students, many of whom now hold faculty positions worldwide. His group maintains an active pipeline of doctoral and post-doctoral researchers working on resilience analytics, infrastructure monitoring, and risk-informed decision-making. Laboratories & Collaborations He leads the MAE Center and is affiliated with the Critical Infrastructure Resilience Institute (CIRI) and the Biomedical and Translational Sciences group. International collaborations span the UK (Loughborough), India (IIT Guwahati), and China (Tsinghua, Tongji, Jianghan), fostering cross-disciplinary research in reliability and resilience engineering.
Phuong H. Nguyen is an Associate Professor at the Department of Electrical Engineering at Eindhoven University of Technology (TU/e). He leads the digital Power & Energy Systems (digi-PES) lab, focusing on smart energy systems, distributed control, and IoT integration for future energy grids. His research addresses energy transition challenges, including microgrid optimization, flexibility markets, and data-driven grid management. Nguyen holds a PhD from TU/e (2010) and has held visiting researcher positions at Clemson University. His work contributes to UN SDG goals related to affordable and clean energy. Education: Bachelor's in Electrical Engineering, Hanoi University of Science and Technology (2002) Master's in Electrical Engineering, Asian Institute of Technology (2004) PhD in Electrical Engineering, TU/e (2010) Key Research Areas: Smart Grids and Cyber-Physical Systems Distributed Energy Resource Management Local Energy Markets and Flexibility Provision IoT and Big Data in Energy Systems Awards & Recognition: Best Paper Award SEST 2020 Projects & Grants: REACT-D: Reactive Power Management (Project Manager) Al-driven Applications to Smarten Power System Operation (Project Lead) UNIversity Campus as a Self-Regulated Network (Co-Manager) Labs & Teams: The digi-PES lab develops cyber-physical tools for energy transition, including microgrid simulations, flexibility markets, and grid resilience strategies.
Anujit Chakraborty is an Associate Professor in the Department of Economics at the University of California, Davis . His research bridges Economic Theory , Behavioral Economics , and Experimental Economics , focusing on decision-making under risk and time constraints, procrastination, and present-biased behavior. Education : Ph.D. in Economics (University of British Columbia, 2017), M.S. in Quantitative Economics (Indian Statistical Institute, 2011), B.E. in Electronics Engineering (Jadavpur University, 2009) His work explores procrastination , present bias , prosocial behavior , and interpersonal uncertainty , often using experimental methods to analyze anomalies in economic preferences. Recent publications investigate democracy measurement , news source diversity , and peer-grading systems . Dr. Chakraborty teaches Intermediate Economics (ECN 100B) and Behavioral Economics at both undergraduate and Ph.D. levels.
Marya Besharov is a Professor of Organisations and Impact at Saïd Business School, University of Oxford, and Academic Director of the Skoll Centre for Social Entrepreneurship. She holds a BA, MA, and PhD from Harvard University, alongside an MBA from Stanford University. Her work focuses on leadership, social impact, and hybrid organizations, advising global entities on balancing social and financial priorities. Education: PhD in Organizational Behavior, Harvard University MA in Sociology, Harvard University BA in Social Studies, Harvard University MBA, Stanford University Research Interests: Dr. Besharov’s research explores how organizations navigate competing goals, particularly in hybrid models like social enterprises. She investigates organizational identity, institutional logics, and leadership frameworks for systemic change. Her findings appear in Administrative Science Quarterly , Harvard Business Review , and Stanford Social Innovation Review . Engagement & Teaching: She leads executive education programs and workshops on leadership and systems change through the Skoll Centre. Her teaching emphasizes contingency-based frameworks for managing organizational complexity. Labs & Initiatives: Academic Director of the Skoll Centre for Social Entrepreneurship, a global hub for social impact education and research.
Deborah Richards is a Professor in the School of Computing at Macquarie University, affiliated with the Ethics and Agency Research Centre, Performance and Expertise Research Centre, and Frontier AI Research Centre. She holds roles as Industry and External Relations Director for the School and Director of the Virtual Reality Lab. Her research focuses on Intelligent Virtual Agents, Virtual Reality applications in education and health, knowledge acquisition, and cybersecurity ethics. She has authored over 425 publications and led 19 research projects, including studies on AI in healthcare and ethical AI design. Education: PhD (Artificial Intelligence, Macquarie University), MAppSc (Information Studies), BBus (Computing and MIS), and a Postgraduate Certificate in Higher Education (Leadership and Management). She advises on PhD and MRes students in Intelligent Virtual Agents research. Research interests include virtual agents for health behavior change, AI ethics, and educational technology. Notable projects include the eADVICE web-based management system for urinary incontinence and the development of embodied conversational agents for wellbeing support. Awards include the ABC Science Media Fellowship (2005) and Vice-Chancellor’s Citations for Outstanding Contributions to Student Learning (2017). Grants and collaborations span health informatics, cybersecurity, and AI ethics. She co-leads initiatives like the Respectful Maternity Care study and the Virtual Reality Lab’s immersive learning environments. Future work emphasizes ethical AI integration in education and healthcare.
Professor Guy Wallis is a Professor and Director of Research at the School of Human Movement and Nutrition Sciences, Faculty of Health, Medicine and Behavioural Sciences at the University of Queensland. He is also an Affiliate of the Centre for Sensorimotor Performance. His work bridges visual neuroscience, computational modeling, and applied human factors research, with significant contributions to understanding visual recognition and visuomotor behavior. Education: Bachelor (Honours) of Engineering in Electrical and Electronic Engineering from Imperial College London PhD in Visual Neuroscience from University of Oxford, UK Prof. Wallis's research program combines computational modeling with behavioral studies, many conducted in computer-controlled virtual environments. His work spans visual neuroscience, object recognition, visuomotor control, and simulator-based training. He has made significant theoretical contributions to understanding how visual recognition is achieved in biological systems and how everyday visuomotor tasks are regulated, challenging existing paradigms and offering new insights. His recent publications reveal a strong focus on virtual reality applications, visual-motor integration challenges, and cross-species cognitive studies. There's a clear trend toward investigating how virtual environments can be optimized for training and assessment, with particular attention to visual perception limitations and how humans adapt to these environments across diverse contexts from surgical training to aviation. Scientific Awards and Recognitions: Elected Fellow of the Queensland Academy of Arts and Sciences (2022) ARC Medical Research Advisory Group (2022-2024) ARC College of Experts (2019-2021) CSIRO CSS Human Research Ethics Committee member (2020-2022) UQ Health and Behavioural Sciences Faculty, HDR Supervision Award (2018) ARC Future Fellowship (2011-2014) ARC QEII Fellowship (2003-2007) UQ Postdoctoral Fellowship (2001-2003) Prof. Wallis has successfully secured funding from major organizations including the Australian Research Council, the Human Frontier Science Program, and the Wellcome Trust. His industry partnerships span diverse sectors such as construction training, mining, healthcare, and aerospace. His research has led to the development of novel training programs for health professionals, impacted the design of man-machine interfaces for mining equipment, and informed the design parameters for pilot training systems. As Director of Research, he oversees the research direction of the School of Human Movement and Nutrition Sciences, fostering interdisciplinary collaborations and supporting early-career researchers through his leadership in the Centre for Sensorimotor Performance.
Aeli Roberts is a Professorial Teaching Fellow at The Bartlett School of Sustainable Construction, University College London, specializing in sustainability, health and safety, and sustainable construction practices. She is a member of BSSC's Centre for Sustainable Governance and Law in the Built Environment, a partnership between UCL and Gatehouse Chambers. Her educational background includes a diverse range of qualifications: PhD from Open University (2004), Bar Vocational Course from BPP Law School (2005), BSc in Construction Management from University College London (2003), MSc from Royal Holloway (1988), BSc from Royal Holloway (1986), and Higher National Diploma from Camberwell College of Art (1990). Initially trained as a chemist, she worked in industry and taught material science to conservation students before transitioning to construction management. Roberts' research focuses on integrating green space within urban environments for environmental and social benefits, health and safety in construction, and sustainable building practices. Her work examines sustainability in small and medium enterprises (SMEs), which employ 85% of UK construction workers, and explores architect-client interactions for sustainable domestic construction. She has conducted comparative studies of health, safety, and well-being in UK and Hong Kong construction industries. Her publication record shows a strong focus on operational failure mitigation, knowledge transfer for safety culture, and the role of building control in sustainable construction. Recent work emphasizes climate change impacts on construction, wellbeing in the industry, and sustainable design integration. Her research bridges academic theory with practical application in the construction sector. Scientific Awards: Significant contributions serving the Design Futures Council's London and Cambridge Think Tank (2012) Roberts has held teaching positions across multiple subject areas including materials science, law, and sustainability. She has developed a third-year module on built asset management, emphasizing the importance of post-occupancy building performance. Her teaching philosophy connects historical building conservation with contemporary sustainability challenges, particularly in the context of upgrading existing housing stock to meet carbon reduction targets. She has been involved in collaborative research projects with organizations including the London Chamber of Commerce and Industry (LCCI), focusing on eco-design training for the construction supply chain. Her work with the CIC 2050 Group demonstrates engagement with industry-wide sustainability initiatives.
Bram Duivenvoorde is an Associate Professor at the Molengraaff Institute for Private Law , Utrecht University , specializing in advertising law , consumer law , and e-commerce . He holds a PhD from the University of Amsterdam (2014) and combines academic research with practical legal experience, including roles as an attorney-at-law at Hoogenraad & Haak (2014-2020) and interim legal counsel at Heineken International (2018). His work focuses on digital society , personalized marketing , and AI regulation in consumer contexts. Education : PhD (UvA, 2014), LLM (Utrecht, 2009), LLB (Utrecht, 2007) Key Research Areas : Advertising Law, Consumer Law, Digital Regulation, EU Law, Personalized Marketing Recent publications analyze generative AI , deepfakes , and DSA compliance , emphasizing consumer protection in evolving digital landscapes. He supervises PhD candidates Thijs Kelder and Jorn Torenbosch and leads the LLM Honours Programme . Duivenvoorde contributes to European consumer law through RENFORCE initiatives and serves as Editor for journals like Intellectuele Eigendom en Reclamerecht .
Margarita Boenig-Liptsin is a tenure-track Assistant Professor of Ethics, Technology and Society at ETH Zurich's Department of Humanities, Social and Political Sciences, a position she has held since September 2022. Trained in Science, Technology and Society with dual PhDs from Harvard University (History of Science) and Université Paris-Sorbonne (Philosophy), she brings interdisciplinary expertise to examining the relationship between technology, power, democracy, and ethics. Her research spans several interconnected areas focusing on transformations to human identity and citizenship in relation to information technologies across time and cultures. She investigates the social and political aspects of digital technologies, identity and selfhood in technological societies, ethics of technology, and comparative cultures of innovation. Her work uniquely bridges historical analysis with contemporary ethical concerns, examining how concepts like human dignity evolve alongside technological developments from punch cards to AI governance frameworks. Her recent publications (2023-2025) reveal a strong focus on AI ethics, data justice, and the philosophical implications of algorithmic systems. These works demonstrate her consistent interest in how technology shapes democratic processes, citizenship, and ethical frameworks. Her research shows progression from historical studies of computer literacy programs to contemporary analyses of generative AI's impact on knowledge production and everyday ethics. Her scientific recognition includes: NSF funding for her collaborative project on Silicon Valley's innovation imaginary Mozilla Foundation Responsible Computer Science Challenge grant (2018-2021) Academic Data Science Alliance support (2020-2022) Sorbonne Université's Paris IAS Chair on 'Major Changes' (2021-2022) At ETH Zurich, she leads research and teaching initiatives that build connections between engineering and social sciences. Previously at UC Berkeley, she directed the Human Contexts and Ethics Program, developing the Human Contexts and Ethics component for data science education. Her work consistently emphasizes translating social science theory for diverse audiences and connecting scholarly work to community needs in Zurich, Switzerland, and Europe. She teaches courses including 'Artificial Intelligence and Human Values' and 'Research in Ethics, Technology and Society' for the Fall 2025 semester.
Dr. Adrian Müller is a Researcher at the University of Bern's Tourism Research Unit (CRED-T) within the Center for Regional Economic Development (CRED). His work focuses on sustainable aviation, decarbonization of business travel, and the intersection of climate strategies with organizational practices. He holds a scientific role in advancing research on travel behavior, policy implications, and alternative modes of transportation. Research interests include sustainable aviation fuel adoption, post-pandemic travel trends, and the misalignment between corporate climate goals and actual travel practices. His studies explore behavioral economics aspects of travel decisions, including social norms in rail business travel and decision-making autonomy among travelers. Key articles highlight themes like decarbonization challenges in knowledge-intensive industries, preferences for sustainable aviation fuels, and the shift toward video conferencing post-COVID-19. Müller’s research often bridges environmental science, transportation economics, and policy analysis, emphasizing actionable solutions for reducing aviation’s ecological footprint. He is affiliated with the Economic Institute at the University of Bern and contributes to initiatives like the Oeschger Center for Climate Change Research. No scientific awards are explicitly listed, but his work reflects engagement with cutting-edge climate and travel research.
