Prof Martin Seligman is Fox Leadership Professor of Psychology at the University of Pennsylvania’s Department of Psychology. A leading American psychologist and writer, Prof Seligman is renowned for his work on the ideas of learned helplessness, learned optimism and attributional style and, more recently, positive psychology.
Prof Seligman has written 20 books, including the best-selling The Optimistic Child, Authentic Happiness, and What You Can Change & What You Can’t. He has published over 200 scientific articles.
Prof Seligman is a Chairman of the Scientific Board at Foresight, Inc. He is a member and a fellow of over 15 professional organisations. In 1996, he was elected President of the American Psychological Association by the widest margin in its history.
Since 1998 Prof Seligman has dedicated his professional life to positive psychology, or the scientific study of flourishing, high achievement and well-being. In his role as the Director of the Positive Psychology Network, he has led several empirical research programmes into character strengths and virtues, into positive youth development and excellence, and into research-based positive interventions that make people lastingly happier. His work and leadership have changed the negative focus of psychology as a profession. Positive psychology has become a truly international movement and the fastest-growing area in psychology.
Dr Susan David, Director of Evidence-Based Psychology and Research Associate at Yale University, specialises in the application of scientific, evidence-based methods to positive psychology, emotional intelligence, engagement and high-performance leadership.
Dr David holds Bachelors, Honours, two Masters Degrees and a PhD in Psychology. She has been awarded 14 prizes and scholarships and for three consecutive years she was selected as an International Positive Psychology Fellow by the Positive Psychology Network. She was external advisor to the first Masters of Applied Positive Psychology programme in the United Kingdom. Dr David is on the editorial boards for the International Coaching Psychology Review and Coaching: An International Journal of Research, Theory, and Practice, and she is currently editing and authoring two books: one on positive psychology and one on evidence-based executive coaching.
Dr David is frequently invited to speak at conferences worldwide, with recent presentations including the Breakthrough Leadership Conference (Dubai), the International Emotional Intelligence Conference (United Kingdom), and the annual conference of the Society for Human Resources Management (United States). She also has extensive business psychology experience. Her clients are leading organisations in the United States, United Kingdom and Australia.
Dr Alex Linley is a psychologist by training and a social entrepreneur by practice. He is the founder and Director of the Centre for Applied Positive Psychology (CAPP - www.cappeu.org), a not-for-profit membership organisation focused on the applications of strengths in organisations and schools. Founding Sponsors of CAPP include Norwich Union, BAE Systems and Unilever.
Dr Linley is a regular speaker on strengths and positive psychology, having delivered keynote presentations throughout the UK, Europe, the United States, and India. He has written, co-written, or edited more than 60 research papers and book chapters, and four books, including Positive Psychology in Practice (Wiley, 2004) and Average to A+: Realising Strengths in Yourself and Others (CAPP Press, 2007). His time outside work is spent with his wife and four children.
Dr Gurnek Bains is CEO of YSC (Young Samuel Chambers), a corporate psychology consultancy that employs over 100 people worldwide, across six offices (London, New York, Hong Kong, Dusseldorf, Sydney and Edinburgh). YSC works at senior levels with a wide range of global organisations advising on people, cultural and leadership issues. It has a rich and extensive client base, including over a third of FTSE100 companies, and the company’s work gives it a close understanding of the cultural issues facing significant global organisations.
Dr Bains helped found YSC 15 years ago and has played a key role in building the company to its current level. He specialises in working with CEOs, Boards and senior teams. This involves one-to-one evaluation and coaching of senior executives and working with teams to enhance their effectiveness. He also has extensive experience of helping businesses drive the culture and values needed to achieve their business objectives. Dr Bains and his colleagues have just published a book, Meaning Inc: The Blueprint for Business Success in the 21st Century. Earlier this year, he was named as one of HR Magazine's 100 Most Influential People.
Dr Bains has a degree in Psychology from Sussex University and a doctorate from Oxford University. He also has a professional qualification in clinical psychology. Prior to YSC, he worked with RHR Inc, an American-based corporate psychology consultancy.
Dr Ilona Boniwell is a senior lecturer and a researcher specialising in positive psychology. She founded the European Network of Positive Psychology (ENPP) and organised the first European Congress of Positive Psychology (June 2002, Winchester). She was a recipient of several awards and grants from the Positive Psychology Network and the Gallup Organisation.
Recently, Dr Boniwell was a consultant for, and appeared, in the BBC2 series The Happiness Formula. She is the author of the bestselling Positive Psychology in a Nutshell (published by PWBC). Dr Boniwell has developed and currently leads an MSc in Applied Positive Psychology at UEL, the first postgraduate degree in positive psychology in the UK.
Dr Boniwell’s research interests and activities fall under the umbrella of positive psychology and well-being and include: psychology of time (time management and time perspective), subjective well-being, and coaching and interventions for personal development and well-being.
In addition to her academic work, Dr Boniwell is also interested in practical applications of positive psychology. She is a qualified coach, working one-to-one with clients, and a facilitator of personal development programmes.
Emma started her career in Human Resources with ICI, and then moved to Abbott Laboratories, the US pharmaceutical company. From there she joined Frito-Lay in the UK (a division of PepsiCo) where she held a number of senior HR roles, culminating in the Vice-President of Human Resources for Frito-Lay in the UK.
In 2002 Emma moved to the US, where she joined a leading consultancy of business psychologists, working in the field of leadership, team development, coaching and assessment with multinational clients.
In 2005 Emma attained the Masters in Applied Positive Psychology from the University of Pennsylvania, USA, where she worked with the founder of the field, Martin Seligman. She is one of only 34 people around the world who have this expertise.
On her return to the UK, Emma founded Positive Organisations to apply the principles of positive psychology in a pragmatic way. Her time is divided between executive coaching and working with organisations to co-design programmes supporting flourishing, productive leaders, teams and individuals.
In order to bring the latest thinking to her work, Emma continues to develop strategic partnerships with academia, serving on the Advisory Board of the Cambridge Institute for Well-Being and advising on a leadership programme with the Said Business School at Oxford University. She also writes and speaks on subjects related to positive psychology and business.
She is married and lives in Buckinghamshire with her three (small) children.
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