AJAYI, Dr Hannah Olubunmi gained a PhD in Early Childhood Education from the University of Ibadan, Nigeria, in 2005, and a Graduate Diploma in International Child & Youth Care for Development (ECDVU), from the University of Victoria, Canada, sponsored by the World Bank, in 2011.   She is a pioneer Lecturer in Early Childhood Education at Obafemi Awolowo University in Ile-Ife, Nigeria and is the Head of Unit - Early Childhood Education.   She has chaired and served as secretary for international conferences on Education and Learning Effectiveness, and as a member of the Local Organising Committee for the Early Childhood Association of Nigeria (ECAN) conference.  She is currently the Managing Editor for the Ife Journal of Theory and Research in Education (IJOTRE).   She teaches from the Diploma to postgraduate levels and has served as facilitator in capacity building seminars for teachers' professional development.

Her areas of interest include Early Years' Development, Gender Studies, Bilingualism, Indigenous Education and Reading Development.   She has attended several national and international conferences and has published in reputable journals in her areas of interest nationally and internationally.   Her current interest focuses on how to remove gender stereotyping from the early years.

BEER, Professor Janet is Vice-Chancellor of Oxford Brookes University.   She is a graduate of Reading and Warwick Universities and also held a fellowship at Yale University.   She worked for the Inner London Education Authority between 1983 and 1989 and has fulfilled academic and leadership roles at Warwick, Roehampton and Manchester Metropolitan Universities.

Professor Beer has an established record of research in late nineteenth and early twentieth century American literature and culture and contemporary Canadian women's writing.   She has published widely in these fields and has recently completed a study of the late writing of Edith Wharton.

Professor Beer has a significant national profile and is the current chair of the steering group for the National Student Survey (HEFCE) and co-chair of the Student Charters Group.   She sits on the Advisory Board of the Higher Education Policy Institute, is a Board member of the Equality Challenge Unit, a Board member of UUK, a member of the Financial Sustainability Strategy Group (HEFCE), a member of the Advisory Group:  Matched funding scheme for voluntary giving (HEFCE), a member of the Editorial Board of the Journal of American Studies and, in August 2009, became the Chair of the University Alliance.   In January 2011 she was elected as a visiting fellow to Nuffield College Oxford.

BULUMULLE-ILLANKOON, Kanchana S is a PhD candidate at the University of Adelaide, pursuing research which focuses on gendered privilege in the academy in Sri Lanka and Australia.   This research holds much significance for Sri Lanka as a pioneering study that inquires into the gendered nature of academic staff experiences.   Internationally, this study will contribute to the current limited body of interrogations that focus on academic masculinities and male privilege and will compare the Asian academic and the Western experience.

Currently a Senior Lecturer in Socal Studies at the Open University of Sri Lanka, Kanchana was instrumental in initiating and administering Gender and Development studies at the undergraduate level.  Although offered as an optional course, which she taght and for which she developed the materials, it became hugely popular and now attracts hundreds of students.  She subsequently contributed to the introduction of gender and development to the Master's level curriculum in Development Studies.   Some of her key research contributions to gender studies include A gendered privilege in the Academic work-place?, a paper presented at the Australian Women and Gender Studies Association Conference in July 2010, Quantitative & Qualitative Dimensions of Gender Equity in Sri Lankan Higher Education, a collaborative article in Women's Studies International Forum in June 2007, a chapter on A Study of child Rearing Practices Prevalent in Selected Communities in Sri Lanka, in the Research Bulletin of The Department of Education:  University of Stockholm, Sweden (2005), a co-authored book chapter in Not Adding Up  -  Looking Beyond Numbers (2005), and a Master's thesis on Patriarchy and domestic violence (2004).

CREWE, Mary is the Founder and Director of the Centre for the Study of AIDS (CSA), located at the University of Pretoria, South Africa.  The CSA, established in 1999, seeks to find new ways in which to understand the HIV and AIDS epidemic and to address the many social, political, economic and cultural issues that the epidemic exacerbates and lays bare.   Through working with an extensive group of young University volunteers, the community and researchers, the CSA interrogates many of the prevailing orthodoxies about HIV education and prevention and how individuals, communities and society can respond.

Prior to establishing the CSA, Mary lectured at the University of the Witwatersrand in educational theory, social and critical theory and development studies.   She moved from the University to help establish and then manage the Great Johannesburg AIDS Programme located in Hillbrow, Johannesburg.   She was instrumental in the drafting of the National AIDS Plan of 1994 and the policy documents for the Education Department's HIV and AIDS response.   She works with a number of UN Agencies, serves on the board of many international, local and regional bodies and with the SADC (Southern African Development Community) Parliamentary Forum.   She is the author of a book on AIDS, of many journal articles and has given numerous plenary addresses and conference presentations.   She was the co-chair of the Social Sciences track of the Durban 2000 AIDS conference and one of the co-chairs of the First International Social Science and HIV Conference, Durban 2011.   She is on the editorial board of a number of journals and an external examiner of other University degrees.

The CSA programme falls under the banner of "Imagined Futures" and Future Leaders at Work and has as its aim to produce young graduates who have a sophisticated understanding of the HIV and AIDS epidemic and of their personal and professional roles in combating the spread and dealing with the consequences of the epidemic.   This is achieved through the critcal lenses of race, class, gender, sexualities, and sexual and social integrity.

DE LA REY, Professor Cheryl is the Vice-Chancellor and Principal of the University of Pretoria.   She completed her Bachelor of Arts, Honours and Master's degrees at the University of Natal (now Kwazulu-Natal) and her PhD at the University of Cape Town.    She has published books and several journal articles in her discipline, Psychology.   Her research work is on gender issues, leadership and higher education policy.

Professor De la Rey is registered as a Psychologist by the Health Professions Council of South Africa and a fellow of the Psychological Association of South Africa.   She is a member of the Academy of Science of South Africa and a fellow of the Royal Society of South Africa.   Professor De la Rey serves on many national committees and boards, including the Human Resources Development Council and the National Advisory Council on Innovation.   She is currently the Chairperson of the Southern African Regional Association of Universities (SARUA), and a member of the International Council of Science's (ICSU) Strategy and Planning Committee.

EKONG, Dr Faith is a Senior Lecturer in the Department of Urban and Regional Planning, University of Uyo, Nigeria.  She was awarded her Master's from the University of Ibadan and PhD from Enugu State University of Science and Technology, Nigeria.   She is a member of the Nigeria Institute of Town Planners, International Society for City and Regional Planners and African Association of Planners;  and is a Registered Urban and Regional Planner with the Town Planners Registration Council of Nigeria.   She has attended many conferences/workshops and served in many regional and national committees in environmental issues covering planning, climate change and livelihoods with special reference to women in small coastal communities.  She is a specialist in Coastal Area Planning and Management and has authored more than twenty academic research publications in national and international journals.   She also reviews for reputable international journals and is the Business Editor of the Journal of Environmental Design.

Beyond academia, Dr Ekong is a consultant on environmental issues, undertaking environmental impact assessments, site analyses, rural/village planning, GIS and Training etc., and is a strong advocate of Women's Political Empowerment, having contested for a seat in the House of Representatives of the National Assembly of the Federal Republic of Nigeria in 2006.  She also has experience of serving as a Project Officer of the Poverty Alleviation Consortium, working in partnership with the European Union/Micro Project Programmes for six states of the Niger Delta.  She is currently a Visiting Scholar at the Faculty of Environmental Studies, Kenyatta University, Nairobi.  She has won several awards and has a traditional Chieftaincy Title for Academic Excellence and Community Developpment.

ELLAHI, Nazima is Incharge, Department of Economics, and Lecturer at the Foundation University, Islamabad, Pakistan.   She completed her MSc (Hons) and MPhil in Economics from the International Islamic University Islamabad, and is pursuing her doctorate in Economics from the Federal Urdu University, Islamabad.   She is Certified Productivity Specialist from the Asian Productivity Orgnaisation (APO) Japan and has authored more than twenty academic research publications in internationally indexed journals.   She has been invited to present her research across South Asia, the Middle East, Far East Asia and Europe, and was awarded a best paper prize in Istanbul.  

Nazima holds various responsibilities including the following:  co-ordinator of the FUCLAS (Foundation University College of Liberal Arts & Sciences) research journal;  Secretary of the FUCLAS Research Committee;  membership of several committees including the Economics and Finance Review, UK;  university co-ordinator of the Human Resource Academic Research Society (HRMARS);  and Associate Editor, Zenith International Journal of Economics and Business Management, India.   She is currently associated with a few projects launched in collaboration with international research networks and has been invited as keynote speaker at a number of conferences.   Her recent work has focused on projects in South Asia related to women's empowerment and the alleviation of poverty.

FOWLER, Professor Mary is Professor of Geophysics and Dean of Science at Royal Holloway, University of London; and Master-Elect of Darwin College, Cambridge.   She completed her undergraduate degree in Mathematics and PhD in Geophysics at the University of Cambridge and after a Fellowship at the ETH Zurich, Switzerland held positions at the University of Saskatchewan, Canada.   She joined Royal Holloway in 1992 becoming Head of Department of Earth Sciences from 2002-08 and serving as elected academic staff member on the Royal Holloway governing body.   Her best known publication is her book "The Solid Earth:  an Introduction to Global Geophysics", the first edition being awarded the Geological Society's Prestwich Medal.

She has served as Vice President of the Royal Astronomical Society, on the Council of the Geological Society of London and as Chair of the Committee of Heads of University Geoscience Departments (CHUGD).   She has served on many national and international funding committees and assessment boards, including the UK's Research Assessment panels and the International Lithosphere Program.  At Royal Holloway she chaired the Women in Science Working Group established to investigate and propose actions to redress the gender imbalance in science for which the College was awarded Bronze Athena SWAN Charter status.   Personally she had a decade-long 'career-break' and worked part-time for another decade. 

 GOONESEKERE, Professor Savitri is Emeritus Professor of Law, University of Colombo, Sri Lanka.   She was formerly Vice-Chancellor, University of Colombo, Sri Lanka and a member of the Expert Committee (Treaty body) monitoring the UN Convention on Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW) from 1999 to 2002.   A member of several regional and national bodies on women's issues, she has held fellowships in universities in the US and the UK.   She currently serves as a member of the UN Trust Fund for Victims of Torture.   Professor Goonesekere has contributed to advocacy and law reform initiatives in Sri Lanka and has also acted as a consultant for several international agencies working on law and human rights projects in the Asian region.   She has published widely on family law, women and children's rights, human rights, law and development issues.

KAMAU, Professor Nyokabi is a Social Worker and Sociologist specialising in gender studies.   She is currently an Associate Professor in gender studies at St Paul's University, Kenya and is Director of GHEM Consultants.   She holds a PhD and a Master's in gender studies, both from the Institute of Education, University of London, an MA in Sociology and a BA in Social Work from the University of Nairobi.  Nyokabi has worked as a university lecturer for the last fifteen years and has also consulted, mainly as a trainer and researcher for a variety of local and international organisations specifically in the areas of gender, sexuality, politics, education and HIV & AIDS.   She has published widely in books, book chapters, local and international journals, and professional newsletters, and has presented papers in various local and international conferences.   Since July 2010, she has been gender mentor for the Oxfam Pastoralist Programme for Kenya and Tanzania and is currently leading a FAWE-funded research on gender equality in education score cards for nine South and Eastern African countries.

LARUSDOTTIR, Dr Steinunn Helga is an assistant professor at the School of Education, University of Iceland in Reykjavik, where she lectures on leadership and management and on gender, women and leadership.   She is a former school teacher and a head teacher and, for a number of years, she worked for the Icelandic broadcasting company as a programme leader and commentator on educational issues.    She finished an MEd degree in educational administration from the University of Illinois in 1982 and a PhD from the Institute of Education, University of London, in 2008.

Dr Larusdottir has been involved in research on school leaders, school development and gender studies in Iceland for twenty-five years.   Her work has been published in Icelandic educational journals as well as in European journals on leadership.   She is particularly interested in values and gender, how these constructs relate to leadership and their impact on the actions of leaders.   Her recent work, in cooperation with five of her colleagues at the School of Education, involves a study on The Impact of the Economic Collapse on the Provision of Education and on Icelandic Schools.   She is currently engaged in a study on Gender Equality in the School of Education, University of Iceland, and she is one of 25 researchers who are participating in a Study on Teaching and Learning in 20 Icelandic schools, where her main focus is on the scope and nature of school leadership.

For the past three years, she has been chairing the Icelandic Educational Research Association (IERA).   In 2011, she chaired the European Network for Improving Research and Development in Educational Leadership and Management (ENIRDELM) and organised its 20th conference in Reykjavik last September.

MATHEW, Ms Maria is an undergraduate student in the Department of Economics at St Theresa's College affiliated to Mahatma University, Kerala, India.  She is an alumna of Vidyodaya School and Ragagiri Public School for the 10th and 12th grades respectively.   Maria published a paper entitled 'National food security bill and its implications for Kerala' in the 360th round of Manupatra in April 2011.  She has also presented a paper entitled 'Sovereign debt crisis  -  a challenge to Indian economy' in a UGC sponsored national seminar organised by Baselious College Kottayam, Kerala, in August 2011.

MILLS, Elizabeth is a Commonwealth Scholar completing her PhD at the Institute of Development Studies, University of Sussex, UK.   Her PhD is entitled 'AIDS Biomedicine and the 'Politics of Life' for Women Living with HIV in Brazil and South Africa'.   Having completed a Master's degree at the University of Cambridge in 2006, she became Deputy Director of the AIDS and Society Research Unit (ASRU) at the University of Cape Town (UCT) until 2009.   During those years, she worked with the former Deputy Minister of Health, lectured in the Social Anthropology and Sociology Departments at UCT and Stellenbosch University, and published on women's contributions to transitional justice, gender, stigma, sex, traditional healing and antiretroviral treatment.   Since commencing her PhD, she has consulted and researched international access to Hepatitis C treatment, the emergence of zoonotic diseases in South East Asia and the financial architecture of AIDS funding.

She completed her BSocSc (Hons) degree in African Gender Studies and Social Anthropology at UCT, where she won the award for the best research dissertaion.  In 2011 she was listed as one of 200 young South Africans by the Mail & Guardian in the field of health.

MORLEY, Professor Louise, AcSS is a Professor of Education and Director of the Centre for Higher Education and Equity Research (CHEER) (http://www.sussex.ac.uk/cheer/) at the University of Sussex, UK.   Louise has an international profile in the field of the sociology of gender in higher education studies.   Her research and publication interests focus on international higher education policy, gender, equity, micropolitics, quality, and power.   She has given keynote presentations, undertaken research and consultancy and has been a visiting academic in a range of countries including Australia, Belgium, Brazil, Canada, China, Czech Republic, Denmark, Finland, France, The Gambia, Germany, Ghana, Greece, Holland, India, Ireland, Italy, Japan, Korea, Lesotho, Mexico, Moldova, New Zealand, Nigeria, Norway, the Philippines, Poland, Portugal, Russia, South Africa, Spain, Sri Lanka, Sweden, Taiwan, Tanzania, Uganda and the USA.

She has recently completed an ESRC/DFID funded research project on Widening Participation in Higher Education in Ghana and Tanzania, and is currently working on the knowledge transfer of this project (www.sussex.ac.uk/education/cheer/wphegt).   Recent publications include:  Morley, L. (2011) "Misogyny Posing as Measurement:  Disrupting the Feminisation Crisis Discourse" The Journal of Contemporary Social Science 6(2): 163-175;  Morley, L. (2011) "Sex, Grades and Power in Higher Education in Ghana and Tanzania." Cambridge Journal of Education 41(1): 101-115;  Morley, L. (2010) "Gender Mainstreaming:  Myths and Measurement in Higher Education in Ghana and Tanzania." Compare:  A Journal of Comparative Education 40(4): 533-550;  Morley, L., and Lussier, K., (2009) "Intersecting Poverty and Participation in Higher Education in Ghana and Tanzania." International Studies in Sociology of Education 19(2): 71-85, and Morley, L., and Lugg, R., (2009) "Mapping Meritocracy:  Intersecting Gender, Poverty and higher Educational Opportunity Structures." Higher Education Policy 22(1): 37-60.

She is an Academician of the Academy of Social Sciences and a Fellow of the Society for Research into Higher Education. 

NAJAM, Professor Dr Najma is the first woman Vice-Chancellor of Karakoram International University, in Gilgit, Pakistan  -  a post she has held since June 2009.   Before that, she was the Founder-Vice-Chancellor of Fatima Jinnah Women University (FJWU), which was the first women's university in Pakistan.  Dr Najam brought to FJWU her over 40 years of teaching and administrative experience in the public sector universities of Pakistan.  Aware, for instance, of the importance of English language and computer skills for students in higher education, she introduced required courses in language, computer and research skills across all disciplines in the first semester, which was truly innovative in 1998.   FJWU's teaching and research changed lives and created opportunities for women as fluency in expression, articulation and presentation / writing became recognised as assets.  In the short span since its inception, FJWU's innovative courses and effective organisation became a model for the setting up of more women only universities in Pakistan.

Dr Najam was trained in the United States in brain behaviour (Neurosciences / Psychology) and has been an active researcher and teacher at all levels in the university systems.   She still teaches neuropsychology, neuropsychological assessment and research methodology, and supervises five PhD students.  In collaboration with the ACU, it was Dr Najam who introduced the training of women in higher education leadership and management to university women in Pakistan.

NAZRIN, Alif is an undergraduate student in the Department of Economics at St Teresa's College, affiliated to Mahatma University, Kerala, India.  She is an alumna of Rajagiri Public School.   Alif has published a paper entitled 'Political Empowerment of Women' in a UGC sponsored state seminar organised by the Morning Star College Angamaly, Kerala, in July 2011.

OLA, Dr Tolulope Monisola has a BSc in Demography and Social Statistics, an MSc in Medical Sociology and a PhD in Population Studies.  She co-founded the Sound Health Development Initiative, which is an NGO with a focus on gender issues in Ekiti State, Nigeria.   She also lectures at the Ekiti State University, Ado-Ekiti, Nigeria.   Her research interests include adolescent sexuality, fertility, reproductive and sexual health/rights, women and child trafficking, child abuse and gender, and she conducts research and undertakes advocacy and intervention work on issues related to sexuality and sexual rights.   She has acquired through her research an understanding of complex sexualities, as well as of the constrained contexts in which many women and men exercise their sexual rights, which enables her intervention programmes to meet their goals.   She has participated in sexuality trainings, conferences, summer institutes and internships at the national, regional and international levels.  She is a member of many professional associations and is the Treasurer of the Union for Africa Population Studies.

ONSONGO, Professor Jane is an Assistant Professor of Education at the Catholic University of Eastern Africa, Kenya, with over twelve years' experience as an academic, scholar and researcher.  She served as an Assistant Director, Preventive Services, at the defunct Kenya Anti-Corruption Commission (KACC) for one year, where she coordinated Research, Education and Prevention of corruption.   She holds a PhD in Education (Higher and Further Education) from University College London, an MA in Education (Leadership and Management in Higher Education) from the Institute of Education, University of London, and an MEd (Communication and Technology) and BEd (Arts) from Kenyatta University.   She has researched and published widely in the area of Gender Equality and Equity in Higher Education.

OWUSU-DAAKU, Dr Frances obtained her PhD as a Commonwealth Scholar in pharmaceutical analysis but branched into social pharmacy on a Commonwealth Fellowship to become the first associate professor in social pharmacy in Ghana.   She has been an academic most of her working life at the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST), where she has had to take an interest in gender issues, including a workshop on sexual harassment in the university, because of the small number of women academics.    She is currently a vice-president of the Commonwealth Pharmacists' Association and an active member of the Lady Pharmacists' Association of Ghana (LAPAG), having previously served as a regional coordinator and a vice-president of the Pharmaceutical Society of Ghana.   She is a Fellow of the West African Postgraduate College of Pharmacists and a member of the international Pharmacists' Federation.

Apart from her professional affiliations, she served for five years as the president of the Planned Parenthood Association of Ghana (PPAG) and is now an honorary member of the council of this leading NGO in Ghana's adolescent reproductive health;  and is a member of the International Planned Parenthood Federation's learning centre in Ghana.   She is also the chair of the children's Sunday school committee of the protestant chaplaincy, KNUST.   Her interest in writing has led her to various editorial positions including those of KNUST's magazine and the College of Health Sciences' newsletter.   She recently became an Associate editor of the open-access African Journal of Disability.   She has several publications to her credit and her research interests include the role of pharmacists in mental health care delivery.

PLUMMER, Professor David is a medical graduate and has a PhD in health sociology from the National Centre for Epidemiology and Population Health at the Australian National University for research which explored the sociology of masculinity and health. He is currently Professorial Research Fellow in Health Practitioner Research at the James Cook University in Queensland.

David has worked at the Royal Tropical Institute in Amsterdam and in the recent past he has held a Commonwealth & UNESCO Chair at the University of the West Indies (UWI) where he established a Master's in Health Promotion and undertook research on the influence of gender on health promotion. During his time as the UWI UNESCO Chair, he developed and led the Caribbean Masculinities Research Projects 1 & 2 where he researched masculinity and health in 8 countries in the Caribbean and South America. He has a special interest in the sociology of masculinity and in the taboos and obligations which the achievement of manhood frequently entails and which profoundly affect the passage of boys to men.

In 2003 David was appointed a Member of the Order of Australia for his contribution to policy, education and clinical services.

QADIR, Professor Dr Samina Amin (PhD), is Vice-Chancellor of Fatima Jinnah Women University (FJWU), Rawalpindi, Pakistan.   Dr Qadir completed her Master's in English Literature from the University of the Punjab, an M Ed in TEFL from the University of Wales College of Cardiff and her PhD in Linguistics from Lancaster University, UK.   She has diverse working experience of more than 34 years, ranging across teaching (Language and Literature), higher education research, gender and policy formulation etc. in three universities;  and has contributed as an expert in English through membership and office holder of several boards.   She has worked as a team leader in several institutional linkage projects of FJWU and actively participated in several research collaborations with other organisations.

Dr Qadir has held several senior administrative positions during her professional career including Dean, Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences;  Head, Department of English Language and Literature;  and Director, Women Research and Resource Centre (additional charge) from 2007-2011 at FJWU.  She has authored and co-authored numerous books, chapters and articles in reputable local and international journals/books.   She is a Higher Education Commission (HEC) recognised supervisor and has supervised several PhD, MPhil and Master's theses.   Dr Qadir is an office holder of a number of statutory bodies at the University and currently serves as a member of different committees of the HEC, Pakistan and of other professional organisations such as Asia TEFL and the Society of Pakistan English Language Teachers (SPELT).

RAB, Dr Maryam has worked in the public service sector for the last 16 years in different capacities.   Her experience varies from teaching to research and management.   She has a Master's degree in Education Management from King's College London and a Doctorate in Education from the Institute of Education, University of London, UK.   She holds the portfolio of the Registrar in the first women's university in Pakistan.   She started her career as an English language teacher in 1994 and later moved into higher education management.   She is also the course leader for the MPhil programme in Higher Education and Leadership in Fatima Jinnah Women University.   Apart from this, she has experience of working with major donor organisations such as USAID, DfID, World Bank and UN agencies on a variety of education and other capacity-building projects.   Her research focus is women and leadership, international collaborations and partnerships in higher education.   Dr Rab has conducted research on International Students with the late Professor Diana Leonard, who was Professor Emeritus at the Institute of Education, University of London.

RASNAYAKE, Mr Susantha is a lecturer in Sociology at the University of Peradeniya, Sri Lanka.  He obtained his first degree from that University, having graduated with first class honours in Sociology in 2006.  He went on to complete his MA degree and is currently reading for an MPhil.   Before joining the University of Peradeniya as a lecturer, he gained experience as a lecturer at the University of Colombo and Sabaragamuwa University of Sri Lanka.   He has published many articles and conference papers in the area of development sociology, rural sociology, religious studies and environmentsl sociology.

REES, Professor Teresa, CBE AcSS is a Professor in the School of Social Sciences, Cardiff University, where she has recently completed a six year term as Pro Vice-Chancellor.  She is also Director for Wales of the Leadership Foundation for Higher Education.   Her research focuses on gender mainstreaming, knowledge economies and women and science.   She is a long-term expert adviser to the Research Directorate-General at the European Commission and is currently advising on structural change in universities.   She is a member of the board of Glamorgan University, and of the BBC Audience Council Wales.   Teresa is an academician of the Academy of Social Sciences, and was made a Commander of the Order of the British Empire for her work on equal opportunities and higher education.

SHARIFAH, Tan Sri Dato' Wira Professor Dr (Sharifah) Hapsah Syed Hasan Shahabudin is Vice-Chancellor of Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia (UKM).  An exemplar in the development of medical and higher education in Malaysia, she is credited for the development of the quality assurance framework for all qualifications in Malaysia.   As Vice-Chancellor of UKM, she has developed a transformation plan for the University, introduced the commercialisation of research products and initiated innovative programmes for human capital development.   She has admirably combined her social activist work as President of the National Council of Women's Organisations (NCWO) to strengthen community engagement projects at UKM.   She has also been appointed as a Steering Committee of the Talloires Network of Engaged Universities.

Professor Sharifah is a prolific writer and columnist in the mainstream newspapers, focusing on education, health and gender issues.   She has received numerous international and national recognitions, including the Fred Katz Memorial Medal, the COL-ICDE "Award of Excellence", an Honorary Degree in Educational Administration from Yala Rajabhat University and an Honorary Degree of Doctor of Engineering from Stevens Institute of Technology, USA.

TESSENS, Professor Lucienne is the Assistant Professor Higher Education Development at the University of Western Australia (UWA), where her role consists of designing, co-ordinating and delivering programmes and workshops which meet the needs of UWA staff, leaders and business units, supporting organisational change and evaluating the impact of these services.   She is also the Co-ordinator of the Leadership Development for Women (LDW) programme.   As a consultant to external educational groups, she has presented workshops on leadership, mentoring, career development, time management, communication and work-life balance.   Her earlier experience includes several academic leadership roles at the Kalgoorlie Campus of Curtin University, Australia;  and, immediately before joining UWA, she was Professional Development Officer at Edith Cowan University, Australia.

In her research, she has a particular interest in staff development programmes for women.   She has published a number of articles and presented at conferences in Australia, New Zealand and Europe.   She is the Chair of the Association for Tertiary Education Management (Western Region) and the Co-ordinator of an online network for practitioners in staff development for women-only programmes in Australia.

 THAMAN, Professor Konai Helu holds the UNESCO Chair of Teacher Education and Culture, as well as a Personal Chair in Pacific Education and Culture, at the University of the South Pacific (USP).  She is a Tongan national and has worked at the USP since 1974.   She has a BA in Geography from the University of Auckland, New Zealand, an MA in International Education from the Unviersity of California at Santa Barbara, and a PhD in Education from the USP.   Her doctoral thesis, entitled 'Ako and Faiako:  Cultural Values, Educational ideas and Teachers' Role Perceptions in Tonga' was based on studies of the relationships between cultural values and educational ideas and how these were reflected in teachers' perceptions of their professional role.   She had conducted research, consultancies and published widely in the areas of teacher education, curriculum development and culture and education and has held senior administrative positions in the USP including Director of the Institute of Education, Pro Vice-Chancellor and Acting Deputy Vice-Chancellor.   She is a Fellow of APEID and a member of several international and professional organisations including the UNITWIN/UNESCO Asia Pacific Higher Education Network and the Joint ILO/UNESCO Committee of Experts on the Application of the Recommendation on the Status of Teachers (CEART), and the Asia Pacific Regional Scientific Committee on Research in Higher Education.   She is also a widely published poet and a potent advocate of gender equity.

VOYAGEUR, Dr Cora J is a full professor of sociology at the University of Calgary.  Her research interests explore the Aboriginal experience in Canada including leadership, employment, community and economic development, women's issues and health.  She has published more than 40 academic papers and written more than 30 commissioned research reports.  She is the author of the books entitled Firekeepers of the 21st Century:  Women Chiefs in Canada and My Heroes have always been Indians: Contributions of Alberta's Indigenous Peoples;  and is co-editor of Hidden in Plain Sight:  Contributions of Aboriginal Peoples to Canadian Identity and Culture, Volumes I and II.  She is currently working on manuscripts on Aboriginal Leadership in Canada and Aboriginal identity in Canada.

She has been invited to present her research across Canada and the United States, the Middle East, Europe and Australia.  She has also been invited to speak at the prestigious Oxford Round Table at the University of Oxford and the United Nations in New York City.

She is a member of the Athabasca Chipewyan First Nation from northern Alberta.    

WICKRAMASINGHE, Professor Maithree (PhD), is Professor at the Department of English, University of Kelaniya, Sri Lanka.   She has also been a visiting lecturer on gender and women's studies at various educational institutions.  Her publications include Feminist Research Methodology - Making Meanings of Meaning Making (2010), Beyond Glass Ceilings and Brick Walls - Gender at the Workplace (2006), co-authored with Wijaya Jayatilake, Gender Dimensions in Disaster Management (2003/2005) co-authored with Madhavi Malalgoda Ariyabandhu (translated into Urdhu, Hindi, Tamil and Sinhala).   She is also the author of From Theory to Action - Women, Gender and Development (2000).

Her most recent work is Introduction to Gender Mainstreaming Universities - a Training Module for Trainers developed for the Association of Commonwealth Universities.   Her other work has involved drafting gender mainstreaming policies and strategies for various institutions, evaluations of the discipline of English, gender projects / programmes, women's organisations and NGOs.   She is currently serving on the board of the Women's Education and Research Centre (WERC) and is a committee member of the Ethics Research Committee, Faculty of Medicine of the University of Colombo.