Prof. James J. Spillane, S.J., Lecturer at Sanata Dharma University, Indonesia
Prof. James J. Spillane, S.J. is a Jesuit Priest. His Jesuit assignments were primarily university teaching including assignments in Iraq, Jamaica, Iran, Colombia, Tanzania, and currently Indonesia. He received B.S. and M.A. degree in Mathematics from Boston College, M. Div. degree from the Weston School of Theology in Cambridge, and Ph.D. degree in International Economics from New York University. From 2009 to 2020 he was Dean of the Faculty of Business Administration at St. Augustine University of Tanzania. Now, he is a Professor of Economics at Sanata Dharma University and Director of the Sanata Dharma Tourism Research and Training Center. Also, he is a member of the International Association of Tourism Scholars (AIEST) and the International Association of Jesuit Business Schools (IAJBS). He has written articles and books in English and Indonesian on international, university values and education, business ethics and the role of tourism in the Indonesian and Tanzanian economies.
Dr. Valerie Moller, Professor Emeritus at Rhodes University, South Africa
Valerie Møller is Professor Emeritus at Rhodes University. She was appointed to the new chair of Quality of Life Studies at Rhodes in the Institute of Social and Economic Research in 2007. Before that she was director of ISER (1998–2006) and headed the Quality of Life Research Unit at the University of KwaZulu-Natal, Durban, South Africa, in the 1990s. She grew up in the southern United States and Switzerland. A sociologist by training, she received her Ph.D. from the University of Zürich. She and her architect husband arrived in Africa in 1972 in a VW kombi and stayed. She has lived and worked in southern Africa since that time.
Together with South African colleagues, she initiated the South African Quality of Life (SAQoL) trends study that has tracked the personal well-being of South Africans from all walks of life since the early 1980s. In 1996 and 2004, together with Alex Michalos, editor of the leading international journal on quality-of-life, Social Indicators Research, she organised ‘roving conferences’ to promote social indicators and quality-of-life research among South African scholars. The 2004 ‘Roving Conference’ held at Rhodes University formed part of the University’s Centenary celebrations.
Valerie Møller has published some 200 research articles, chapters in books, and research monographs covering a wide range of topics related to quality of life and well-being. She has edited or co-edited a number of Springer volumes on quality-of-life topics including two focusing on South African quality of life (published in 1997 and 2007).
She is an international Society for Quality of Life Studies (ISQOLS) Distinguished Qol Researcher in recognition of her lifetime achievements and accomplishments in quality-of-life studies. She hosted the ISQOLS 7th conference at Rhodes University in 2006, and served as ISQoL’s President (2007–8). She serves on the boards of a number of quality-of-life journals and received the 1997 (with Lawrence Schlemmer) and 2013 Best Social Indicator Research (SIR) Paper awards. The 2013 Best SIR Paper reported on three decades of the SAQoL trends study.
Dr. Delphine Kessy, St. Augustine University of Tanzania (SAUT) in Mwanza
Dr. Delphine Kessy is a Senior Lecturer in Tourism Management and a tourism expert with over 10 years of experience. She is the Director of Research, Innovation & Community Engagement at St. Augustine University of Tanzania (SAUT) in Mwanza. Her professional background includes teaching, research, and consultancy in tourism, hospitality, and related fields. She has authored or co-authored several articles and papers on topics such as sustainable tourism, community engagement in tourism, and the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the tourism industry in Tanzania. She has also been a featured speaker at events like the ELS Talk on language and (post)colonial policy in Africa.
She is a founding member of the World Tourism Network and has spoken about the importance of research funding for technological innovation in universities, as well as the need for Tanzania's tourism companies to integrate into the international tourism chain.
Fr. Joaquim Sarmento, S.J., Timor Leste
Fr. Joaquim Francisco da Silva Sarmento, S.J., is a prominent Jesuit priest from Timor-Leste, born in the historic Jesuit mission area of Soibada on July 12, 1966. He entered the Society of Jesus in 1988, undertaking his formation in Indonesia and later studying theology in Rome before being ordained in 1999. His return to Timor-Leste coincided with the tumultuous period of the country's self-determination referendum, during which he began his dedicated mission of service. Over the years, he has been deeply involved in spiritual direction, formation, and leading retreats. From 2017 to 2023, he served as the Regional Superior for the Jesuit Independent Region of Timor-Leste, and he is widely respected as a spiritual leader and formator within the country.
Dr. Delphine Kessy is a Senior Lecturer in Tourism Management and a tourism expert with over 10 years of experience. She is the Director of Research, Innovation & Community Engagement at St. Augustine University of Tanzania (SAUT) in Mwanza. Her professional background includes teaching, research, and consultancy in tourism, hospitality, and related fields. She has authored or co-authored several articles and papers on topics such as sustainable tourism, community engagement in tourism, and the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the tourism industry in Tanzania. She has also been a featured speaker at events like the ELS Talk on language and (post)colonial policy in Africa.
She is a founding member of the World Tourism Network and has spoken about the importance of research funding for technological innovation in universities, as well as the need for Tanzania's tourism companies to integrate into the international tourism chain.
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