Professor David Benton (USA)

David Benton became Chief Executive Officer of the National Council of State Boards of Nursing (NCSBN) on October 1, 2015. Immediately prior to this, he worked at the International Council of Nurses in Geneva, Switzerland for 10 years, firstly as their consultant on nursing and health policy specializing in regulation, licensing and education, and then as CEO.

He is a qualified general and mental health nurse and has a PhD Summa Cum Laude from the Complutense University of Madrid for his work on researching an international comparative analysis of the regulation of nursing practice.

David is a global expert in nursing and regulatory policy and has provided support to countries in all World Health Organization regions in their efforts to implement and modernize nursing and health professions regulation. He is a prolific author with more than 200 peer reviewed and book chapters to his name. He is the recipient of several awards and honours. He is particularly proud of being awarded the inaugural Nursing Standard Leadership award in 1993. He has been awarded Fellowship of the Florence Nightingale Foundation; the Royal College of Nursing and the American Academy of Nursing. Most recently, he was awarded the Spanish Grand Cross for his contributions to nursing regulation and health policy.

Professor Mario Cardano (Italy)

Mario Cardano’s research is primarily focused in two areas, methodology of social sciences and sociology of health. Cardano has done studies related to the first area focus on methods and epistemology of qualitative research. Framing the procedures commonly used in qualitative research, from the choice of cases to the defence of the results drawn from their analysis, into the theory of argumentation is pivotal in his argumentation. In the second area, the sociology of health, his interests are directed toward mental health and disability, particularly on the experience of dyslexia.

Prof. Howard Catton (Switzerland)

Howard Catton is Chief Executive Officer of the International Council of Nurses. Previously, had been Head of Policy & International Affairs at the Royal College of Nursing in the UK and then relocated to Geneva to join the International Council of Nurses as the Director, Nursing, Policy and Programmes.

His team led the development of ICN policy and position statements, working closely with WHO and other International Organisations to provide nursing advice on global health challenges and input into formal WHO and UN decision making meetings and processes. He was appointed CEO of ICN in February 2019.

Prof. Roberto Cipriani (Italy)

Professor Cipriani is emeritus full professor of Sociology at Rome Tre University in Rome, Italy.

He has written extensively on popular religion, the sacred and secularization, and is known for his unconventional applications of the “concept of ‘diffused religion’ and then that of ‘religion of values.’” He has made important analytical contributions to the concept of diffused religion by using grounded theory.

He has been President of the Italian Association of Sociology, President of the research committee of Sociology of Religion in the International Sociological Association and Editor-in-Chief of International Sociology.

Professor Joyce Fitzpatrick, RN,PhD, FAAN (USA)

Joyce Fitzpatrick is the Elizabeth Brooks Ford Professor of Nursing at Case Western Reserve University’s Frances Payne Bolton School of Nursing and is a recipient of the American Academy of Nursing’s highest honor: Living Legend.

Fitzpatrick, who previously served as Dean of the nursing school, is best known for her contributions toward advancing the science of nursing education at universities and health ministries around the world. From developing qualitative educational interventions focused on HIV/AIDS prevention in Uganda to designing a 10-hospital project centered on improving the nursing care provided to elders, her research has shined a spotlight on the meaningfulness of nurses’ work life.

Fitzpatrick was president of the American Academy of Nursing from 1997 to 1999.

Prof. Máximo González Jurado (Spain)

Máximo González Jurado is a full professor at Madrid’s Complutense University and President Emeritus of the Spanish General Council of Nursing (Consejo General de Enfermeria). He is member of the Healthcare Advisory Council to the Minister for Health, Social Services and Equality, member of the Higher Healthcare Council of Madrid and President of the National Commission for the Medical and Surgical Care Nursing Specialty – Ministry of Health, Social Services and Equality in Spain.

He has achieved numerous prizes as the International Christiane Reimann award from the International Council of Nurses and was Vice President of the same non-governmental global organisation.

Professor Krzysztof T. Konecki (Poland)

Krzysztof T. Konecki is a full Professor and Vice Dean for Research at the Faculty of Economics and Sociology, University of Łódź in Poland. He is the Editor-in-Chief of Qualitative Sociology Review, and serves as President of the Polish Sociological Association. He is also a member of the Sociology Committee of Polish Academy of Science. His interests lie in qualitative sociology, sociology of interaction, symbolic interactionism, sociology of body, methodology of social sciences, visual sociology, communication and intercultural management, organizational culture and management, and contemplative sociology. He is an author of many books and articles.

Prof. Ausilia Pulimeno (Italy)

Pulimeno is President of OPI Rome Nursing Board and President of the Centre of Excellence for Nursing Scholarship of OPI Rome Italy (CECRI) since its inception in 2010. She is also Vice-President of the National Federation of the Nursing Professions (FNOPI) in Italy. She has authored numerous publications in nursing science and was former nursing director of the large university hospital in Rome, Umberto I Polyclinic.

Professor Kyung Rim Shin, RN, Ed.D., FAAN (South Korea)

Kyung Rim Shin is a professor at Ewha Womans University in Seoul, South Korea. She is an editorial board member of journals Global Qualitative Nursing Research and Qualitative Health Research. She has been published extensively in journals and books related to qualitative research. In recognition of her contributions to qualitative research, she received the International Leadership in QHR Award from the International Institute for Qualitative Methodology in 2011, and was named to the Nurse Researcher Hall of Fame by the Sigma Theta Tau International Honor Society of Nursing in 2013. She had the honor of working on policy-making activities for nurses as a member of the National Korean Assembly in 2012-2016. With her accomplishments, she became the founding President of the Korean Forum for Unification and Nursing in preparation for nursing unification. Since February, 21 2018, she is the President of Korean Nurses Association.

Professor Gennaro Rocco, RN, PhD, FAAN (Italy)

Gennaro Rocco is the Director of the Centre of Excellence for Nursing Scholarship (CENS) of OPI Rome since its inception in 2010. This centre, one of the first of its kind based in Europe, has fostered and financed more than 100 nursing research projects in the last 10 years.

He was President of the OPI Rome Nursing Regulatory Board for more than 20 years and was National Vice President of the OPI Regulatory Board for nursing for more than 13 years. In this period, he has contributed to fostering numerous laws for the evolution of the nursing profession in Italy. In 2004, he established the European Federation of Nursing Regulators as OPI National Vice President with UK, Spain and Ireland.

He is the National Coordinator of the institution representing independent nurses in Italy, Enpapi, since 2014. He has been director of Tor Vergata Nursing Schools in Rome for more than 20 years. He is the President of the bachelor courses for health professions and Head of the nursing school and professor at the Catholic Lady of Good Counsel University in Tirana, Albania.

Rocco also founded the first National Regulatory Body for nursing in Albania. His main scientific interests lie in qualitative research where he has published extensively.

Professor Franklin A. Shaffer, EdD, RN, FAAN, FFNMRCSI (USA)

Franklin A. Shaffer is the President and Chief Executive Officer of CGFNS International, Inc., which is an internationally recognized authority on credentials evaluation and verification pertaining to the education, registration and licensure of nurses and health care professionals worldwide. Dr. Shaffer earned his doctorate in nursing administration and nursing education at Columbia University and has 50 years of progressive and varied nursing experience which includes administration, education, clinical and research. He is a frequent speaker and consultant at domestic and international conferences and conventions around the world.

His recent work includes the National Nursing Assessment Service (NNAS) project which provides a leading-edge technology-based assessment system to evaluate the credentials of foreign-educated nurses seeking licensure across provinces in Canada. Dr. Shaffer is also a principle investigator for the International Labour Organization’s Decent Work Across Borders Initiative, focusing on comparative analyses of nursing education and migration issues involving Denmark, Finland, India, Norway and the Philippines.

Through his passion for nursing and research, Dr. Shaffer has authored eight books, and coauthored numerous publications including, “Document Forensics: Evaluating and Verifying Nurse Credentials”, for the Journal of Nursing Regulations (Drs. Shaffer, Phillips and Tuttas, co-authors); and “Human Resources for Health 2030 and the Regulatory Agenda,” for the Journal of Nursing Management (Drs. David Benton and Franklin Shaffer, co-authors).

Professor Judith Shamian, RN, PhD, LLD (hon), D.Sci (hon), FAAN (Canada)

Judith Shamian is the Past President of the International Council of Nurses (ICN). She was elected to the position at ICN’s May 2013 quadrennial congress in Melbourne, Australia. The term of her presidency was 2013-2017.

Dr. Shamian is also the former President and CEO of the Victorian Order of Nurses (VON) and past president of the Canadian Nurses Association (CNA). She is also a professor at the Lawrence S. Bloomberg Faculty of Nursing at the University of Toronto, a co-investigator with the Nursing Health Services Research Unit, and was the Executive Director of the Canadian federal government’s Office of Nursing Policy for five years. In addition to her extensive international work, she was Vice President of Nursing at Mount Sinai Hospital in Toronto for 10 years and has held various academic positions since 1989.

Professor Massimiliano Tarozzi, PhD (Italy)

Massimiliano Tarozzi is currently Associate Professor (qualified full professor) in Education at the Department of Life Quality Studies at the University of Bologna, where he teaches in the areas of General Education and Global Citizenship Education and he is chairing the International Research Centre on Global Citizenship Education. He is also on the Board of the PhD in Science and Culture of Well-being and Lifestyles at the University of Bologna.

Tarozzi was appointed as Co-Director of the Development Education Research Centre at the Institute of Education at the University College London. He has been visiting professor in many international universities including UCLA, Beijing Normal University, São Paulo University and he is Co-Convenor of the group “Theory and Methods of empirical research in education” within the Italian Education Society.

He is currently Co-Editor of Encyclopaideia: Journal of Phenomenology and Education and an editorial board member of several scholarly journals. In addition to a number of scientific articles, he has written or edited 18 books in the field of intercultural and global citizenship education and qualitative research methods.

Professor Michael van Manen, MD, FRCPC (Peds, NICU, CIP), PhD (Canada)

Michael van Manen is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Paediatrics, Faculty of Medicine & Dentistry, University of Alberta, Canada. He has a clinical practice in neonatal-perinatal medicine, and an active research program concerned with relational ethics. Relational ethics in pediatrics is complicated by the fact that a child’s parents are also givers and receivers of the pedagogy of medical care. More so, the use of medical technologies by and with children is wrought with moral-ethical issues. Michael van Manen’s research program is funded by the Women & Children’s Health Research Institute and the Canadian Institute for Health Research.