Fellows Council

The EDEN Fellows Council is a department of EDEN Digital Learning Europe, formed by all those who have received an EDEN Fellow or Senior Fellow award. The EDEN Fellows Council was established at the 2018 EDEN UK Annual Conference in Genoa, with the first elected representatives taking office in 2019. The role of the EDEN Fellows Council is a) to provide strategic input to the EDEN DLE Management Board, drawing on the extensive experience and expertise in online, open and distance education of the body of EDEN Fellows and Senior Fellows, and b) to act as ambassadors for EDEN and for the field of online, open and distance education with Europe and internationally. The Fellows Council is an advisory body and not part of the formal governance structure of EDEN.

The EDEN Fellows Council is coordinated by the Fellows Council Board. Former roles on the EDEN Fellows Council Board: 2019-2021: Lisa-Marie-Blaschke (Chair), Don Olcott Jr (Vice-Chair) 2021-2022: Don Olcott Jr (Chair), Deborah Arnold (Vice-Chair) The following members serve on the current Board (2022-2024):

Albert Sangrà

Chair of the Board

Albert Sangrà is Director for the UNESCO Chair in Education and Technology for Social Change. Professor and researcher at the Open University of Catalonia, Department of Psychology and Education. Member of the founder team of this university (1994-95), where I served as Director, Methodology and Educational Innovation until 2004, being in charge of the educational model of the university; Director of the M.Sc. program in Education and ICT (e-learning) (2006-2012), and Director of the eLearn Center (2012-2014). I have worked as a consultant and trainer in several online and blended learning projects in Europe, America, Asia, and Australia, focusing on implementation strategies for the use of technology in teaching and learning and its quality. Former Vice-president, European Foundation of Quality on E-Learning (EFQUEL), and member of the Executive Committee of EDEN (2003-2009). Recipient of the 2015 Award for Excellence in eLearning awarded by the World Education Congress.

Researcher at the Edul@b research group, and Research Associate at Contact North, Canada.

Current Director of the Industrial Doctorates Programme, Government of Catalonia.

Diana Andone

Vice-Chair of the Board

Diana Andone is the Director of the eLearning Center at the Politehnica University of Timisoara in Romania. Diana  runs the team who developed the university’s award wining Virtual Campus CVUPT and is also lecturer at the “Politehnica” University of Timisoara, Romania, in the area of multimedia and web technologies.  She is passionate about the ubiquitous access to technologies and how they can be used to improve people’s life. Diana holds a PhD in Designing eLearning Spaces for Digital Students with University of Brighton, UK, an MA in European Studies, an “Learning about Open Learning”, postgraduate distance education course at the Herriott-Watt University, Edinburgh, UK; an MSc in Artificial Intelligence at the “Politehnica” University of Timisoara, Romania. Her publication list comprises 9 books and 82 papers presented at international conferences, she is reviewer for 12 International Conferences, 4 journals, 6 best paper awards at different conferences and since 2010 Co-chair at the IADIS WWW/Internet International Conference. In 2012 she received the EDEN Fellow Title.

Gila Kurtz

Board member

Gila Kurtz is the Dean of the Faculty of Instructional Technologies at the Holon Institute of Technology (HIT) in Israel. She has a wealth of experience, having served as the Academic Vice President at a company specializing in e-learning solutions for the corporate sector for several years. Other positions: a member of the Steering Committee of the European Distance and E-Learning Network (EDEN) and the Editor-in-Chief of The Interdisciplinary Journal of E-Skills and Lifelong Learning (IJELL). Gila has been a visiting scholar at the University of Maryland University College, University of California Berkeley, Syracuse University and University Roma, TRE.

Sandra Kučina Softić

Board member

Dr Sandra Kučina Softić is the Assistant Director at the University of Zagreb University Computing Centre SRCE (Croatia). She is also the Head of the E-learning Centre at SRCE. She has 25 years of experience working in higher education. Her work focuses on monitoring and fostering e-learning in Croatian higher education, providing support and advice to institutions, teachers, and students on the implementation of new technologies in learning and teaching.

Her field of interest is strategic decision-making related to the implementation of digital education in higher education and the enhancement of teachers’ digital skills. She is also active in the field of open education. She is the author of training courses for teachers and a speaker at conferences. In 2021, she authored a book on digital transformation in higher education (published in Croatian) and has published many papers. She teaches at universities in Croatia and the region on topics related to digital education.

She holds a Master’s degree in Digital Education from the University of Edinburgh, UK, and a Ph.D. in Information and Communication Technologies from the University of Zagreb, Croatia. 

Dr Kučina Softić served as President of the international organisation EDEN from 2019 to 2022, and as Vice-President of EDEN DLE for the 2023–2025 mandate. In 2014, she received the title of EDEN Senior Fellow. And in 2025, she was named EDEH Digital Education Ambassador.

Paul Prinsloo

Board member

Paul Prinsloo is a Research Professor in Open and Distance eLearning (ODeL) at the University of South Africa (Unisa). He is a visiting professor at the National Open University of Nigeria (NOUN), a Research Associate for Contact North/Contact Nord (Canada), a member of the Center for Open Education Research at the Carl von Ossietzky University of Oldenburg (Germany), a Senior Fellow of the European Distance and E-Learning Network (EDEN), and serves on several editorial boards. Paul has published numerous articles in the fields of teaching and learning, student success in distributed learning contexts, the ethical collection, analysis, and use of student data in learning analytics, and digital identities.  

Christian Schumann

Board member

Christian Schumann is Professor of Business Informatics at the West Saxon University of Zwickau. He received his doctorate and habilitation from Chemnitz University of Technology. Currently, he is university representative for international relations, head of the Center for New Forms of Study, director of the Institute for Management and Information, and dean of studies for master’s and distance learning programs. He holds leading positions in the Association of German Engineers and is involved in international organizations, for example, the German University Consortium for International Cooperation, the Chinese-German University of Applied Sciences, the Mexican-German University Cooperation, ICDE and SAE International. Additionally, he is chair of the Continental Network of the British, Academy of Management (BAM) and visiting member of the BAM council, a member of the Board of Directors of the Fellows Council of EDEN, a member of the Board of Directors of the Accreditation Agency for Study Programs in Engineering, Informatics, Natural Sciences and Mathematics ASIIN as well as a member of the Delegate Assembly of the Society for Project Management in Germany.

Montse Guitert

Board member

Montse Guitert Principal Researcher at Edul@b research group. Full Professor in the Studies of Psychology and Education Sciences at the Open University of Catalonia (UOC). Since the foundation of the institution (1995), she has been actively engaged in the area of Digital Competences as well as in the Master’s Degree in Education and ICT (e-learning).

Her research focuses on the uses of ICT in education and training, with particular emphasis on online collaboration, online teacher education, and digital competences. She has participated in and led several national and international projects on these topics, including knowledge transfer initiatives. Among the most recent are: RESCCUE4COVID (“Recover Spaces for Traumatized Children in Community Settings”); DIGITAL WBL (“Digitalisation of Experiential Learning and Work-Based Learning – Deal with Digital Work-Based Learning”); EXCIITE (“Enabling eXtremely Creative, Inclusive, Inspiring Teachers for Europe”); SUPERRED (“Supporting Self-Regulated Learning in Emergency Remote Education”); ECOLHE (“Empower Competences for Onlife Learning in Higher Education”); DigiTelPro (“Professional Development for Digital Teaching and Learning”); CRISS (“Assessment and Certification of Digital Competences in K-12”); LExDigTeach (“Use of Learning Analytics in Digital Environments: Impact on the Improvement of University Teaching Practice”); CODUR (“Creating an Online Dimension for University Rankings”); and ECO4LEARN (“Learning Ecologies throughout Life: ICT Contributions to Teachers’ Professional Development”).

She has published numerous articles and has participated in international conferences and workshops in her fields of expertise. In 2016, she was awarded the Jaume Vicens Vives Distinction by the Government of Catalonia for her leadership in online training on digital competences in higher education and its impact on citizenship.

EDEN Senior Fellows 2019  Recognition of professional excellence and EDEN Fellows 2008 Recognition of professional excellence

You can read the Quarterly blog of the EDEN Fellows and Senior Fellows in the

The EDEN Fellowship Programme was created in 1997 with the first Awards presented at the 2007 EDEN Annual Conference in Naples. The purpose of the EDEN Fellows Programme is to provide professional recognition, validation, and support to EDEN members in the field of online, open and distance education in Europe. The established formal award schemes are the EDEN Fellow and Senior Fellow recognitions.

Fellows Senior Fellows
2025

Nati Cabrera, Open University of Catalonia, Spain.
Fiona Aiken, The Open University, United Kingdom.
Ilona Buchem, Berlin University of Applied Sciences, Germany.
Anat Cohen, Tel Aviv University, Israel.

Denice Whitelock, The Open University, United Kingdom.
Vlad Mihaescu, Politechnical University of Timisoara, Romania.

2024

Jue Wang Szilas, Geneva University, Switzerland.
Willem van Valkenburg, TU Delft, Netherlands.
Torunn Gjelsvik, ICDE, Norway.
Giedre Tamoliune, Vytautas Magnus University, Lithuania.
Anthony F. Camilleri, Knowledge Innovation Centre, Malta.

Christian-Andreas Schumann, University of Applied Sciences Zwickau, Germany.
Maria Rosa Re, University of Roma Tor Vergata, Italy.
Maxim Jean-Louis, Contact North, Canada.
Olaf Zawacki-Richter, Carl von Ossietzky University of Oldenburg, Germany.

2023

Lourdes Guàrdia, Universitat Oberta de Catalunya, Spain.
Mart Laanpere, University of Tallinn, Estonia.
Orna Farrell, Dublin City University, Ireland.
Genute Gedviliene, Vytautas Magnus University, Lithuania.
Igor Balaban, University of Zagreb, Croatia.
Raimund Hudak, Duale Hochschule Baden-Württemberg Heilbronn, Germany.
Lisa Morgado, Universidade Aberta, Portugal.

Paul Prinsloo, University of South Africa, South Africa.
Inés Gil Jaurena, Universidad Nacional de Educación a Distancia, Spain.

2022

Denise Whitelock, The Open University UK.
Sirje Virkus, University of Tallinn, Estonia.
Beatriz Sedano, UNED, Spain.
Vlad Mihaescu, Polytechnic University Timisoara, Romania.
Marcelo Maina, UOC, Spain.
Estela Daukšienė, VMU, Lithuania

Sandra Kucina, University of Zagreb, Croatia.
Ebba Ossiannillson, Quality in Open Online Learning, Sweeden.
Alastair Creelman, Linnaeus University, Sweeden.
Helga Dorner, Eötvös Loránd University, Hungary.
Mark Brown, Dublin City University, Ireland.

2021

Mairéad Nic Giolla Mhichíl, Dublin City University, Ireland.
Giselle M. S. Ferreira, Pontifical Catholic University of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
Elena Caldirola, University of Pavia, Italy.
Teresa Romeu, Universitat Oberta Catalunya, Spain.
Daniel Domínguez, UNED, Spain.

Ulf-Daniel Ehlers, Baden-Wuerttemberg Cooperative State University, Karlsruhe,
Germany.
Diana Andone, Politehnica University Timisoara, Romania.
Timothy Read, UNED, Spain.

2020

Radu Vasiu, Politehnica University Timisoara, Romania.
Ulf Sandström, Swedish Association for Distance Education, Sweden.
Maria Rosaria Re, Università Degli Studi Roma Tre, Italy.
James Brunton, Dublin City University, Ireland.
Covadonga Rodrigo, UNED, Spain

Airina Volungeviciene, Vytautas Magnus University Kaunas, Lithuania.
Antonella Poce, Università degli Studi Roma Tre, Italy.
Josep M. Duart, Universitat Oberta Catalunya, Spain.

2019

Ines Gil-Jaurena, National Distance Education University, UNED, Spain.
Maxim Jean-Louis, Contact North, Canada.
Ildiko Mazar, Knowledge Innovation Centre, Malta.
Paul Prinsloo, University of South Africa, South Africa.
Margarita Tereseviciene, Vytautas Magnus University, Lithuania

Andras Benedek, Budapest University of Technology and Economics, Hungary.
Montse Guitert Catasus, Universitat Oberta de Catalunya, Spain.

2018

Svetlana Knyazeva, UNESCO Institute for Information Technologies in Education,
Russian Federation.
Francesco Agrusti, Universita degli Studi di Rome Tre, Italy.
Josep Maria Duart, Universitat Oberta de Catalunya, Spain.
Mark Nichols, the Open University UK, United Kingdom.

Lisa Marie Blaschke, Carl von Ossietzky University Oldenburg, Germany.
Alfredo Soeiro, University of Porto, Portugal.
Fabio Nascimbeni, Universidad Internacional de la Rioja – UNIR, Spain.
Don Olcott Jr., Global ODL Consultant, Romania.

2017

Mark Brown, National Institute for Digital Learning, Ireland.
Alastair Creelman, Linnaeus University, Sweden.
Eva Szalma, Centre for Learning Innovation and Adult Learning, Hungary.
Anca Cristina Colibaba, EuroEd Foundation, Romania.

Steve Wheeler, University of Plymouth, United Kingdom.
Wim Van Petegem, Katholieke Universiteit Leuven, Belgium.
Gila Kurtz, The Center for Academic Studies or Yehuda, Israel.
Jack Koumi, Educational Media Production Training, United Kingdom.

2016

Antonella Poce, Università degli Studi Roma Tre, Italy.
Elsebeth Korsgaard Sorensen, Aalborg University, Denmark.
Torhild Slaatto, Flexible Education Norway.
Olaf Zawacki-Richter, Carl von Ossietzky University of Oldenburg, Germany.
Belinda Tynan, The Open University, United Kingdom.
Paul Bacsich, Sero Consulting Ltd., United Kingdom

Antonio Teixeira, Universidade Aberta, Portugal.
Rory McGreal, Athabasca University, Canada.
Alan Bruce, Universal Learning Systems, Ireland.
Deborah Arnold, University of Burgundy, France.

2015

Helga Dorner, Central European University, Hungary.
Timothy Read, Universidad Nacional de Educacion a Distancia, Spain.
Ene Koitla, Information Technology Foundation for Education, Estonia.
Irina Smirnova, Moscow State University of Economics, Russian Federation.
Yaacov Katz, Bar- Ilan University, Israel.
Margarida Carmo, Universidade Aberta, Portugal.

Albert Sangra, Fundacio per a la Universitat Oberta de Catalunya, Spain.
Terry Anderson, Athabasca University, Canada.
Roberto Carneiro, Universidade Catolica Portuguesa, Portugal.

 

2014

Sandra Kucina Softic, University of Zagreb, Croatia.
Ebba Ossiannilsson, Swedish Association for Distance Education, Sweden.
András Benedek, Budapest University of Technology and Economics, Hungary.
Marci Powell, Drexel University Online, USA

Tony Bates, Tony Bates Associates Ltd., Canada

2013

Ilse Op de Beeck, Katholieke Universiteit Leuven, Belgium.
Bill McNeill, The College of Estate Management, United Kingdom.
Ari-Matti Auvinen, HCI Productions Ltd., Finland.
Thomas Kretschmer, University of Duisburg- Essen, Germany.
Grainne Conole, University of Bath, United Kingdom.
Sonia Hetzner, University of Erlangen-Nuremberg, Germany

Sofoklis Sotiriou, Ellinogermaniki Agogi, Greece.
Morten F. Paulsen, Campus NooA, Norway

2012

Lisa-Marie Blaschke, Carl von Ossietzky University of Oldenburg, Germany.
Fabio Nascimbeni, European Training Foundation, Spain.
Diana Andone, Politechnica University of Timisoara, Romania.
Laszlo Komaromi, Dennis Gabor College, Hungary.
Andrea Karpati, Eotvos Lorand University, Hungary.
Michael Auer, Carithia Tech Institute, Austria.

2011

Jim Devine, DEVINE Policy/Projects/Innovation, Ireland.
Ilaria Mascitti, Universitya Telematica Guglielmo Marconi, Italy.
Natalia Tikhomirova, Moscow State University of Economics, Russian Federation.
Rafi Nachmias, Tel Aviv University, Israel.
Andy diPaolo, Stanford Center for Professional Developmet, USA.
Tapio Koskinen, Aalto University, Finland

2010

Airina Volungeviciene, Vytautas Magnus University, Lithuania.
Antonio M. Teixeira, Universidade Aberta, Portugal.
Don Olcott Jr., United States Distance Learning Association (USDLA).
Eva Sandor-Kriszt, Budapest Business School, Hungary.
Deborah Arnold, University of Burgundy, France.
Berit Johnsen, Norwegian Ministry of education and research, Norway

Michael G. Moore, Studiesenteret.no, Norway.
Alan Tait, The Open University, United Kingdom.
Martine Vidal, Centre National d’Enseignement à Distance, France.

2009

Dénes Zarka, Budapest University of Technology and Economics, Hungary.
Thomas Fischer, Ellinogermaniki Agogi, Greece.
Anna Grabowska, PRO – MED Co. Ltd, Poland.
Mehmet Kesim, Anadolu University, Turkey.

Ulrich Bernath, Ulrich Bernath Foundation for Research in ODL, Germany.

2008

Steve Wheeler, University of Plymouth, United Kingdom.
Alfredo Soeiro, University of Porto, Portugal.
Ulf-Daniel Ehlers, Baden-Wurttemberg Cooperative State University, Germany.
Sally Reynolds, Audiovisual Technologies Informatics and Telecommunication, Belgium.
Montse Guitert, Universitat Oberta de Catalunya, Spain.
Adriana Gnudi, Universita degli Studi di Bergamo, Italy.
Costas Tsolakidis, University of the Aegean, Greece.

Walter Kugemann, Institute for Learning Innovation (FIM – NewLearning), Germany.
Torstein Rekkedal, NKI Distance Education, Norway.

2007

Henrik Hansson, Stockholm University, Sweden.
Gila Kurtz,The Center for Academic Studies or Yehuda, Israel.
Christian-Andreas Schumann, University of Applied Sciences Zwickau, Germany.
Wim Van Petegem, Katholieke Universiteit Leuven, Belgium.
Ulrich Bernath, Ulrich Bernath Foundation for Research in ODL, Germany.
Roni Aviram, Ben Gurion University of the Negev, Israel.
Sarolta Zárda, Dennis Gabor College, Hungary.
Stavros Savas, Ellinogermaniki Agogi, Greece.
Danguole Rutkauskiene, Kaunas University of Technology, Lithuania.
Jolanta Chec, Natioanal Institute of Telecommunication, Poland.
Nikitas Kastis, MENON GR Research, Greece.
Alan Bruce, Universal Learning Systems, Ireland.
Albert Sangra, Fundacio per a la Universitat Oberta de Catalunya, Spain.
Anne Gaskell, University of Cambridge, United Kingdom.
Sofoklis Sotiriou, Ellinogermaniki Agogi, Greece.
Jeanne Schreurs, Universiteit Hasselt, Belgium.

Carl Holmberg, International Council for Open and Distance Education, Sweden.
Erling Ljosa, Founding President of EDEN, former Director of NKS, Norway.
Claudio Dondi, MENON Network, Belgium.
Erwin Wagner, University of Hildesheim, Germany.
Peter Floor, former Secretary General of the Leiden University, Member of the
Distance Learning Task Force of the Coimbra Group of Universities, long standing
member and in 2003 -2007 Chair of the European ODL Liaison Committee, The Netherlands.
Sir John Daniel, President of the Commonwealth of Learning, former Vice-Chancellor of the OU, UK.
Ingeborg Bo, Executive Director of the Norwegian Association for Distance Education,
retiring President of EDEN, Norway.