ISSS Board Members

Photo Name Title Bio and Location Term
 
Gary Smith 

President
grs0036@gmail.com
 
Gary is based in the UK. He is a Senior Expert Systems Engineer at Airbus Defence and Space.
He has a passion for understanding, appreciating complexity and the integration of solutions.
From 2019 to 2023 he served as VP for Systems Practice.
He is an INCOSE certified Expert Systems Engineering Professional and a senior editor of the Systems Engineering Body Of Knowledge.
 

 
 
 

 

2024-2025
Yiannis Laouris
President Elect 
Active in ISSS periodically since 2003, co-organized mini-Symposia in 2022/23 and pioneered creation of https://wiki.isss.org. Social-, business-, and science entrepreneur, holding an MD (distinction; Germany), a PhD Neurophysiology (summa cum laude; Germany), an MSc Eng (GPA 4.0: USA), and a PhD Systems Engineering (UK). Lead scientist and Chair of Future Worlds Center (www.futureworlds.eu). Founding member of Cyprus Society for Systemic Studies; member of Board of Institute for 21st Century Agoras; national representative in several COST Actions, Insafe, Inhope, EU Kids online, ECSO, Cybercrime Centre of Excellence, ECTEG – Europol, and member of Boards and/or partner in several high-tech companies. One of the 12 authors of the ONLIFE Manifesto, and lead author of Reinventing Democracy in the Digital Era Manifesto. Leads internationally the development of theory, tools, and applications of structured dialogic design. Yiannis conducts research to scale up participatory dialogic processes engaging asynchronously thousands of people in meaningful authentic dialogues, thus accelerating institutional and societal change. 100+ papers/book chapters; 160+ conference papers. ORCID number: 0000-0002-9081-5849. 2024-2025
Michelle Friend Past President  Born in Canada 1966.
Education: Studied philosophy at McGill University, Montreal, Canada, and University of St. Andrews in Scotland.
Intellectual development:Specialized first in philosophy of logic and mathematics, then on the philosophy of the logical foundations of the relativity theories. Recently I have been engaged in the philosophy of the environment and policy decisions that are in line with ecological economics. Stuart Umpleby introduced me to second-order cybernetics, systems science and Karl Muller introduced me to second-order science. Most recently I have been also working in the philosophy of chemistry - the environmental politics of chemical practice (research, industrial development, cultural attitudes). I developed an multi-criteria decision aide called the Institutional Compass to make the evaluation.
We shall be using the compass "on the ground" in a three year project (2022 - 2025) in Mexico to re-establish the natural hydrological system and appropriate the river for the community.
Employment 2001 - present: Teaching in the philosophy department at George Washington University, Washington D.C.
3-year Chaire d'Excellence Université de Lille 01/2020 - 01/2023.
 
         
Jennifer Makar
VP Administration-
Managing Director 
 
 
Canada
 
 
 
René Oosthuizen
Secretary and VP Protocol
 
 
 
 
 
René's Bio  
Gary Metcalf
Treasurer and VP Funds 
 
 
Gary Metcalf is a Past-President of the ISSS (2008 conference), and an active member of the Board of Trustees.  He served on the Executive Committee of the International Federation of Systems Sciences, as the President / VP from 2002 to 2018.  His business background includes serving as Director of a small, community-based non-profit organization, then as a manager in two Fortune 50 corporations, running programs for over 30,000 employees each time.  He spent 20 years teaching in university programs – in the US and other countries, and has owned and run a small consulting firm since 1998, with his wife and partner, Teresa Daniel, Ph.D.   2023-27
Haider Al-Shareefy 
VP Membership and PR 
 
 
 
I describe myself as a Holistic Systems Engineer. My bachelor degree was in aerospace systems engineering. I am currently doing a PhD in Safety Assurance of AI-based systems.
Technical achievements-wise, 
I have 2 patents granted with UK IPO. 
 
William Smith
VP Systems Practice
 
 
 
I brought with me to ISSS, three systemic questions which pointed to evolutionary lacunae that currently exist in the development of systems and organization theory and practice. 
Given purpose as the origin of power:-
1.     What are the elements or functions, present in every purpose that account for wholeness?
2.     How can power be balanced as it moves through the various dimensions of purpose and power i.e. from the whole through the parts to the individual unit, and back?
3.     How can we deal with the neglected dark side of power that derives from unconscious purposes, i.e. instincts, emotions, and motives?
Together, with all the contributions from Saturday/Wednesday videos, papers, and conferences we have begun to make progress in answering these three questions, and in my tenure as Vice President of Practice, I will do my best to turn our findings into productive research and practice.  
 
  Vacant VP Conferences
 
 
 
 
 
Jennifer Wilby
VP Research and Publications
 
 
 
 
 
Clifford Whitcomb
VP Education 
 

For more information about Cliff, please see his bio here