ISQOLS President Corner

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ISQOLS President Corner

ISQOLS 2025-2026 President, Stephanie Rossouw, Message to the ISQOLS Community

Dear ISQOLS members,

It is a great privilege to serve as your ISQOLS president for the 2025-2026 term. I am dedicated to honoring the trust you have placed in me by ensuring that every voice in our community is heard and represented. I will build upon the strong foundation established by the remarkable leaders who came before me. I strive to advance our collective mission to promote research in quality of life, well-being, and happiness studies and, in doing so, increase global well-being. To my predecessor, Prof. Dr. Martijn Burger, who led this organization for the past two years with passion, generosity and a 'never-say-die' attitude, I extend my heartfelt thanks. Martijn's Presidency will be remembered for many successful endeavours, but for me, his legacy will lie in establishing a new journal where we can publish our work. The Journal of Well-being Economics, set to start publication in 2026, will be invaluable for our future success, and I am honored to be Co-Editor-in-Chief along with Martijn.

The coming two years are rife with possibilities to engage meaningfully, collaborate with purpose and extend networks to diverse regions and disciplines. We start 2025 with our Winter Virtual Conference in February, and our Annual Conference will follow in Luxembourg in July. This promises to be a momentous occasion since it coincides with our 30th anniversary, and if there ever was a cause for a big celebration, this is it! Encouraged by the huge success of our first Regional Conference in South Africa, we will have our second Regional Conference in Buenos Aires, Argentina, in 2026, and we will be back on US soil for our Annual Conference in Lexington, Kentucky. We will attempt to offer publication opportunities linked to innovative and cutting-edge happiness and well-being research.

We are busy working behind the scenes to find our PhD students' mentors who will be able to help them make ISQOLS their home, integrate themselves into our community, and provide advice on developing future careers. We also recognize the need for our younger members to be more involved in leadership positions. Therefore, please keep an eye out for calls to join Special Committees throughout the year. These are volunteer positions and will be open only to members. We strongly believe in pathways to assist the growth and capabilities of future advocates and leaders.

The outlook for ISQOLS is bright, and I am excited to contribute to the future of this dynamic and impactful organization. I encourage all of you to get involved where you can to help us ensure that ISQOLS becomes the main driver for meaningful improvements in well-being and advancement of quality of life as a cornerstone of human progress worldwide.

Please feel free to say hello or pass on any ideas you have for the next two years!

Sincerely yours,

Stephanie Rossouw

ISQOLS President, 2025-2026

Associate Professor of Economics and Deputy Head of the School of Social Sciences and Humanities

ISQOLS 2023-2024 President, Martijn Burger, Farewell Message to the ISQOLS community

Dear colleagues and friends,

As my time as President of the International Society for Quality-of-Life Studies comes to an end, I wanted to take a moment to say a heartfelt thank you to all of you. Leading this incredible organization has truly been an honor, and it’s hard to believe how quickly the two years have passed.

The last month of my presidency has not been an easy one for me and many of you, as we lost three eminent quality-of-life scholars: Takashi Inoguchi, Ruut Veenhoven, and Richard Easterlin. We will miss them and will ensure that their work lives on within our society.

Looking back, I am proud of all the work we have accomplished together. Over the past two years, we have established the ISQOLS Academy to better integrate young researchers into our organization and held our first regional conference in Africa to make ISQOLS more accessible to quality-of-life researchers in the Southern Hemisphere. The in-person conferences in the Netherlands and Malaysia, as well as the virtual conference (which has become a regular part of our program), were a great success and have attracted a considerable number of participants. Additionally, we are grateful to have achieved our goal of reaching 500 active ISQOLS members in 2024.

It’s been inspiring to witness the dedication, passion, and expertise that everyone brings to the table and I love the community we’re building in which we support and help each other with a common goal: to contribute with our research to a greater happiness for a greater number of people. A special thank you goes to the ISQOLS Board of Directors for their unwavering support and collaboration over the past two years. I also want to express my deepest gratitude to Jill Johnson, whose exceptional leadership has been indispensable in ensuring the smooth running of our society. Your efforts have made all the difference, and I couldn’t have done this without you.

Even though I’m stepping down from the presidency, I’m not going anywhere. I’ll still be involved and continue contributing to ISQOLS. It’s with great confidence that I pass the baton to Stephanie Rossouw, who will be stepping into the role of President. I have no doubt that Stephanie’s leadership, vision, and commitment will continue to steer ISQOLS toward even greater success in the years to come. I look forward to seeing how she leads the society into its next chapter.

Thank you once again for everything. It’s been a true privilege to serve as your president and steward of ISQOLS, and I can’t wait to see all the wonderful things we will continue to achieve together.

All the best,

Martijn Burger

ISQOLS President, 2023-2024

The International Society for
Quality-of-Life Studies
(ISQOLS)

Address:
ISQOLS
P.O. Box 118
Gilbert, Arizona, 85299, USA

Email:
office@isqols.org

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