Professor Edward de Bono
Ph.D. (Cambridge),
M.D. (Malta), M.A., D.Phil, D.Des., L.L.D.

Professor Edward de Bono is considered by many to be the leading authority in the field of creative thinking and the direct teaching of thinking as a skill. He is the originator of the formal creative thinking tools of lateral thinking, the Six Thinking Hats, the Cognitive Research Trust (CoRT) and Direct Attention Thinking Tools (DATT). These methods are widely used in both educational and organisational settings.

Edward de Bono has written over 75 books with translations into 40 languages and has been invited to lecture in 58 countries. His instruction in thinking has been sought by many of the world's leading corporations including IBM, Microsoft, BT, Nokia and Siemens. He has been included by a group of academics in South Africa as one of the 250 people who had most influenced humanity in the whole course of history. He has been selected by a leading Austrian business journal as one of the 20 visionaries alive today. He was nominated by Accenture, a leading consultancy company, as one of the 50 most influential business thinkers today.

Edward holds an M.D. (Malta), M.A. (Oxford), D.Phil. (Oxford), Ph.D. (Cambridge), D.Des. (RMIT) and L.L.D. (Dundee). He has held faculty appointments at the Universities of Oxford, Cambridge, London and Harvard, was a Rhodes Scholar at Oxford and is a Visiting Professor at the University of Malta. 

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Dr Sandra M. Dingli
Director
Senior Lecturer
Ph.D.(Dunelm), M.A., B.A. (Hons)

Professor Sandra M. Dingli is Director of The Edward de Bono Institute for the Design and Development of Thinking at the University of Malta. As a Senior Lecturer she conducts workshops and delivers lectures on creativity and innovation management, foresight, the de Bono thinking techniques, philosophy of mind and philosophy of artificial intelligence to undergraduate and postgraduate students.  Sandra was instrumental in setting up the Institute in collaboration with Professor Edward de Bono in October 1992.

In 2004 Sandra designed and launched a new postgraduate degree, a Master of Arts in Creativity and Innovation. Sandra has organised five International Conferences on Creative Thinking at the University of Malta. Five books with selected proceedings of the International Conferences have been edited by Dr Sandra M. Dingli and published by the University of Malta Press.

As Director of The Edward de Bono Institute Sandra coordinated eInnForM (European Innovation and Foresight Masters), a three-year project funded under ERASMUS curriculum development which involved designing the curriculum and launching a new European M.Sc. The MSc in Strategic Innovation and Future Creation was launched in October 2009 with partner universities in Finland, Germany and England ( www.stretegicfutures.eu ). For further details see: https://www.um.edu.mt/profile/sandramdingli

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Dr Brenda Murphy
Senior Lecturer
Ph.D.(London), M.A.(London) B.A. 

Dr Brenda Murphy is a Senior Lecturer at the Edward de Bono Institute at the University of Malta, where she supports student research and runs academic and practical study units across several disciplines (e.g. Sociology, Psychology, Media and Cultural Studies, Creativity and Innovation) at undergraduate and postgraduate levels. She also runs training courses in professional development for advertising professionals and other media practitioners.

She has worked in the advertising industry in London and Dublin and had been an invited speaker at International Advertising Association’s [IAA] (Malta) seminars in 2000 and 2004. From 1999 to 2003 she chaired the Gender Advisory Committee at the Malta Broadcasting Authority. She is a member of European Network of Equal Opportunities in Broadcasting (EON), an EU network on equality in the media and is a member of ECREA (European Communication Research and Education Association). She is active in EU projects, as a research partner, on gender portrayal in the media, is a collaborative researcher with SophiaEuropia, and is advisor and trainer to government bodies e.g. the Malta Broadcasting Authority, the Employment and Training Corporation (ETC) and to private advertising agencies. Her research areas are: constructions of identity/consumption of advertising, Diaspora, and gender issues the media. For further details see: https://www.um.edu.mt/profile/brendamurphy

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Ms Leonie Baldacchino
Assistant Lecturer
B.Psy.(Hons), M.A. Creativity & Innovation

Ms Leonie Baldacchino graduated from the University of Malta with an Honours Degree in Psychology, followed by a Distinction for a Master of Arts in Creativity and Innovation. At present she is reading for a PhD in Entrepreneurship at Warwick University Business School (UK), as well as lecturing on entrepreneurship, psychology, creativity, innovation and human resource management at The Edward de Bono Institute for the Design and Development of Thinking, University of Malta.  She is involved in the coordination and organisation of various entrepreneurship-related incentives at University of Malta, including the Global Entrepreneurship Week and European SME Week events hosted locally by University of Malta, and the Entrepreneurship stream on the DegreePlus programme.  Leonie has lectured on creative thinking and entrepreneurship at the Malta College of Arts, Science and Technology. Her research on start-up success in a small island state has recently been published in Canada’s Island Studies Journal.  Leonie’s work experience includes several years in managerial, consultancy and senior research positions in a family-owned group of companies. For further details see: https://www.um.edu.mt/profile/leoniebaldacchino

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Dr Vincent Cassar
Lecturer
B.A. (Hons), M.Sc.(Wales),
Ph.D. (Lond.), C. Psychol., C.Sci. 

Dr. Vincent Cassar is a Chartered Organizational Psychologist with the British Psychological Society and a Chartered Scientist with the British Science Council. He holds an MSc in Occupational Psychology from the University of Cardiff (previously University of Wales, Cardiff) and obtained a PhD in Organizational Psychology from Birkbeck College, University of London.

Vincent lectured full-time in the Department of Psychology from 1997 to 2008 and is currently a Part-Time Resident Academic at the Edward de Bono Institute. He has provided consultancy in several areas of organizational behaviour both locally and abroad to companies in the fashion retail, printing, banking, educational services and oil industry as well as civil society organizations and education. Vincent is also currently Honorary Teaching Fellow at the School of Management and Organizational Psychology, Birkbeck College (University of London) and examiner to the University of London (External) and Business Associate of Delegate Management Services. 

He is the current President of the Malta Association of Work and Organisational Psychology and is a member of several professional bodies including the European Association of Work and Organizational Psychology, the British Psychological Society, the American Academy of Management, the American Psychological Association, the International Association of Positive Psychology, the British Science Council and the European Association of Occupational Health Psychology. For further details see: http://www.um.edu.mt/profile/vincentcassar

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 Dr Margaret Mangion
 Lecturer
 B.Psych., P.G.C.E.,M.B.A.,
 D.Sci.Soc. 

Dr Margaret Mangion lectures in creativity and innovation at the Edward de Bono Institute for the Design and Development of Thinking. Prior to joining the University of Malta, Dr Mangion held various posts in the private sector and the public sector. Her work experience was further enhanced through employment for a global Blue Chip company in England.

She read for her undergraduate degree in Psychology and Communication Studies at the University of Malta followed by a Post Graduate Certificate in Education. After teaching career, Dr Mangion successfully pursued an MBA at the Maastricht School of Management. She has completed a doctorate in social sciences at the University of Leicester.  For further details see: https://www.um.edu.mt/profile/margaretmangion

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Ms Shirley Pulis Xerxen
Assistant Lecturer
B.Ed.(Hons).,PG.Dip.inEduc.(Admin.& Mangt.), M.A. (Creativity and Innovation). 

Ms Shirley Pulis Xerxen obtained a Master of Arts in Creativity and Innovation from the University of Malta in 2006 and a postgraduate Diploma in Education (Administration and Management) in 2005 after having read for a B.Ed. (Hons) degree. Shirley currently lectures at the University of Malta on thinking systems and innovation, creativity in education, entrepreneurship and educational leadership. She is currently reading for a Phd in Management Studies at the University of Exeter, UK with a focus on organizational culture and its impact on creativity.

Shirley’s work experience includes eleven years teaching in Maltese State schools and she regularly provides workshops and training in thinking systems with diverse local and international organizations from the private and public sector. On a European level, Shirley has been involved in a number of EU projects related to the dissemination and development of creativity. Shirley was selected in 2000 to design the thinking skills programme that is currently being implemented in local state schools. Shirley’s research interests include creativity in education and creative organizational culture. For further details see: https://www.um.edu.mt/profile/shirleypulisxerxen

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