It has been a privilege to serve ISQOLS as its President

Letter from Mariano Rojas (ISQOLS President 2017-2018)

I have been a member of ISQOLS since 2000, and my academic career has substantially benefi ted from participating in its conferences and in related activities. My life has been enriched by interacting with so many warm, enthusiastic, and learned scholars from so many countries and disciplines. It has been a privilege to serve ISQOLS as its President during the years 2017 and 2018. I am grateful to all members of ISQOLS for giving me the opportunity to serve; it has been two wonderful years which allowed me to contribute to ISQOLS. ISQOLS gives great opportunities to all scholars – young and old – to keep growing up as researchers and I am planning to be fully involved in the Society in the future. ISQOLS is an international and multidisciplinary society that relies on scientifi c knowledge to contribute to people’s well-being around the world. I do strongly believe that ISQOLS has a noble and very relevant mission and that its best years are ahead. ISQOLS is an international society that puts into contact researchers from all parts of the world. Coming from Latin America, I do feel very strong about this international scope of ISQOLS. Bringing together researchers with diff erent life trajectories and cultural backgrounds is very important for the study of quality of life, well-being and happiness. The multicultural background of ISQOLS is important for a better understanding of people’s well-being by recognizing the relevance of values, beliefs, and traditions. It also shows that it is possible to interact in a globalized world with respect, appreciation, and understanding of diversity. ISQOLS is a society that favors evidencebased knowledge. The desire for a world where people’s well-being is high is not new; this desire has been common in political discourses for centuries. In fact, the desire for a better world has inspired many utopias; unfortunately, many of them have usually ended up as dystopias. ISQOLS gathers a large group of scholars who rely on scientifi c research –rather than on doctrines and ideologies- to address issues regarding people’s experience of being well. Databases, qualitative and quantitative techniques, methodologies and approaches, hypotheses and corroborations, and respectful discussions are necessary in order to provide sound knowledge to guide personal decisions and private and public policy in the pursue of well-being.

ISQOLS gathers scholars from many disciplines. It seems that the current compartmentalization of knowledge is very limited to fully understand the experience of being well that concrete human beings –of fl esh and blood- have. Hence, disciplinary-based academic societies are not well-positioned to make substantial contributions to people’s well-being; ISQOLS provides the space for multi, inter and even transdisciplinary research. ISQOLS is also fi nancially sound; thanks in great part to the excellent work of the Development Committee and the philanthropic will of many endowed-track honorees. Revenues have also exceeded our expenditures during the past years, and we have been able of generating some surplus which could be used to fi nance special programs: in fact, we are using some of this money to support the PhD-dissertation-awards program and to offer conference-participation grants to young scholars. I believe it is important for ISQOLS to invest in people, in particular in young and enthusiastic people who may come to ISQOLS who may fi nd in the Society the appropriate place to enrich their academic life and who in the near future could take the leadership and make ISQOLS stronger. Professor Ming-Chang Tsai will become our President in January 2019; I have had the honor of knowing him for many years and I wish him all the best. During the next weeks we will be involved in the election of the Board of Directors and the President Elect 2019-2020. The Nomination Committee has already started this task. Four ISQOLS conferences are already in the horizon: Granada, Spain in September 2019; Rotterdam, The Netherlands in 2020; Vermont, The United States in 2021; and Sabah, Malaysia in 2022. If I may have a seasons’ wish it is for ISQOLS to keep the sense of community that shows that people from diff erent disciplines and from many corners of the world can come together with the single purpose of contributing to the well-being of people. I would like to express my gratitude to all the members of the Executive Committee and of the Board of Directors as well as to the Executive Director for their support during the past two years. They made my job easier and they contributed to make ISQOLS stronger. Thanks . . . many thanks.

ISQOLS President’s Message

Mariano Rojas