Relevant experience: Combination of university research and teaching with numerous short term consultancies and three long term assignments working for the Government of Kenya, the Government of Bhutan and ICRAF respectively. Since 1996: involved in establishing and managing the university consortium partnership between universities in Denmark, Thailand, Malaysia and southern Africa on Sustainable Land Use and Natural Resource Management (SLUSE). Through the programme new curricula have established at the involved universities as well as the programme has sought to provide the necessary knowledge foundation for implementing the curricula and for policy interventions in land use and natural resource management. The SLUSE programme has been supplemented by a research project, focussing on the changing conditions for natural resource management in Thailand under the era of globalisation, funded by the Danish Council for Economic and Social Research.

Countries of working experience: Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania, Burkina Faso, Lesotho, Ivory Coast, Bhutan, Thailand, Laos PDR, Nepal, and the Philippines.

After leaving The Budapest University of Economics he had a job in the electronics industry, and then another in middle management of a tourist bureau. He worked three years as a scientific researcher at the Ministry of Home Trade. Later he undertook a private venture. At the beginning of the 1990s he was the representative of a Canadian charity society and became the managing director of a project of theirs in Hungary. In the mid 1990s he was the personal secretary to the CEO of a British-Hungarian joint venture “Queensway Holdings Hungary”. Since 2001 he has been with The University of West Hungary. Besides “Business Negotiations” and “Comparative Economies”, Mátè teaches a unique subject, “Intercultural Management”. His books in Hungarian are “On Business Negotiations” and “On the Economical Consequences of Military Strategies in Central Europe 1500-2000”.

In the early 1990s, Mátè realized the importance of the ancient scripts. After spending some years with different religious groups of Hungarians, he learned about the Dharma at a Buddhist mission in Hungary. For almost a decade now he has been with Mahá Maitri Buddhist Community lead by Rev. Kapila Vimalakírti. With him he frequently attends events at the Budapest Dharma Gate Buddhist Church. There – for his efforts to help Hungarians to cultivate the Southeast Asian spiritual traditions – Mátè was, three years ago, dubbed as “Member of our Community of Spiritual Supporters”.

Ever since he started his career at the university, Mátè has endeavored to combine his experiences as an economist with his knowledge of the Asian spiritual traditions. He translated two books from English to Hungarian: 1) “Awareness” by a Christian Sage of India, and 2) the English version of Lao-tse’s “The Tao The King” (interpreted from Chinese by the 19 century British Sinologist James Legge)

Mátè also wrote some books in Hungarian about the sociological aspects of religious teachings in general and that of Buddhism in particular. His latest books are: “The Virtual Space and the Future” (September 2002, ISBN 963 85503 7 6); “The Transcendent Ethics and the Spirit of Globalization” (December 2006; ISBN 963 85503 8 4).

John is the author of Global Leadership (Capstone/Wiley 2002). His book, Power Tools: A Leader’s Guide to the Latest Management Thinking (Prentice Hall, 1997) helps managers quickly grasp the meaning of over 100 people-management tools and techniques and describes their strengths and weaknesses. He is also the author of The Living Organization: Transforming Teams Into Workplace Communities, published jointly by Irwin Professional Books and Pfeiffer and Co, 1993. In addition, his articles have appeared in professional and academic journals on five continents.

He has lived in Japan, Malaysia, Singapore, Australia and Thailand for almost ten years where he was an educator and consultant. While in Malaysia he edited Aspects of Management in Malaysia. It was the first management textbook in Malaysia that integrated Malaysian cultural influences with conventional management principles. In addition, to further his own grasp of the human condition he has visited more than 120 countries. This year marks the 30th anniversary of his co-authored article, “A Primer on Corporate Social Responsibility.”

While in Australia, he developed the PROBE methodology (Practical Organizational Behavior Education) - a student-centered and experiential technique for teaching organizational behavior to full-time students. While in Singapore he organized that country’s first Organization Development Network.

He has been active in ASTD, the ODNetwork, ILA, ALE, AMA and other professional bodies. He served as an elected member of the board of AccountAbility, a U.K. based organization that is a leader in the creation of international CSR standards.

John is currently a mentor to doctoral students at Walden University where every dissertation must contribute to positive social change. He received post-doctoral training in interpersonal dynamics at the Stanford University Graduate School of Business where, upon completion of his training, he served as a course facilitator in that program. He earned his Ph.D in Educational Administration and Organizational Behavior, a Master’s Degree in Social Science, a Master of Fine Arts degree (Creative Nonfiction Writing), and a Bachelor’s degree in Political Science with Marketing, History, English-Journalism and Sociology minors.

John is an active speaker and seminar leader and has consulted with diverse business, government and civil society organizations.

Prayudh has lectured and written extensively about a variety of topics related to Buddhism, including the position of women in Buddhism and the relationship between Buddhism and the environment. He was awarded the 1994 UNESCO Prize for Peace Education.

Because changes in monastic title often involve adding or changing monastic names, Payutto has been known by, and published under, a variety of different names over his career. Previously, he was known as Phra Rajavaramuni, Phra Dhebvedhi, and Phra Dhamapitaka.

He has held positions with governments and enterprises as system programmer, analyst and CIO from 1971 to 1987, before he joined the faculty of University of Quèbec in Montrèal. He still works as consultant for many small business CEO. He now promotes the good governance practices for non-profit organizations.

Dr. Plaisent's research focus is on the concept of cognitive ergonomy, learning problems and personal productivity tools for managers. He work in all aspects of human aspects of information technology, studying e-buyers as well as e-learners readiness. He has published several books and articles and is very active in academic conferences in Americas, Europe, Tunisia and Thailand.