International Jury of UNESCO-Hamdan Prize for Teacher Development

The International Jury for the UNESCO-Hamdan Prize for Teacher Development is appointed by the Director-General of UNESCO on the basis of their reputation in the advancement of teaching and learning, and with consideration for equitable geographical distribution and gender balance.

Composed of five distinguished professionals chosen for their high-level of knowledge and experience in teacher-related issues, the jury meets once every two years to assess nominations to the Prize and presents its recommendations to the Director-General of UNESCO.

Its members are:

Renewed for a third term in 2021 for the region Arab States.

Dr AlSalouli is a renowned professor of mathematics education at King Saud University in Saudi Arabia. He has a variety of experiences lasted more than 30 years of experience in the field of education.

AlSalouli started his career as a mathematics teacher in middle and high school, after that, he moved to university level. In terms of administration expertise, Dr AlSalouli has worked as a Vice Dean for development and quality deanship, and General Manager for Research and Innovation in the Ministry of Education. He has been a senior consultant in both the public and private sectors.

Furthermore, AlSalouli has worked with international companies as a senior consultant such as Person Education Int, BCG Company, AT kearney and others. During these years, AlSalouli has worked extensively in strategic planning as a developer and an executer. In the field of research, he has extensively published on various aspects of teacher education and student learning in high quality journals.

Renewed for a third term in 2021 for the region Asia and the Pacific.

Dr Carroll-Lind is an educational expert, previously working as Director of Research and Postgraduate Programmes at the Te Rito Maioha Early Childhood in New Zealand.

In New Zealand, she began her career as a primary, early childhood and teacher of children with additional learning and behavior needs. Moving into tertiary education, she then lectured in inclusive education (for initial teacher education students) and mentor teaching (for early childhood, primary and secondary teachers) at Massey University College of Education. Her next career role was Principal Advisor (Education) at the Office of the Children’s Commissioner, where Dr Carroll-Lind undertook two national inquiries into :(1) school safety; and (2) the education and care of infants and toddlers, to raise the quality of early childhood education for all learners.

Dr Carroll-Lind has researched and published extensively across the field of teacher education including leadership, inclusion, child rights, teaching and teachers.

Appointed in 2021 for the region Latin America and the Caribbean

Prof. Cuenca Pareja is a social psychologist, specialist in the study of reforms and comparative policies in higher education and teaching issues, as well as in the relations between education and politics, with a historical perspective. He is senior lecturer at Universidad de San Marcos and senior researcher at the Institute of Peruvian Studies. He was Peru's Minister of Education during the transitional government (November 2020 - July 2021).

In recent years, he has advised the Ministries of Education of Colombia, Ecuador, Guatemala, Honduras, and Panama. He is a member of the Advisory Council of the Organisation of Ibero-American States for Education, Science and Culture (OEI) and he has been involved in the Regional Policy Program for the Teaching Profession of the UNESCO Regional Office of Education for Latin America and the Caribbean (OREALC). He holds a PhD in education from the Universidad Autónoma de Madrid.

Appointed in 2021 for the Region Africa.

Associate-Professor Lis Lange is currently an academic at UCT in Centre for Higher Education Development. Until April 2022 she was UCT’s Deputy Vice-Chancellor: Teaching and Learning. Between 2014 and 2018 she held a similar portfolio at the University of the Free State.

Before joining the UFS as Director of Planning in 2011, she was the Executive Director (2006-2010) of the Higher Education Quality Committee of the Council of Higher Education (CHE) and Acting CEO of the same organisation between August 2007 and April 2008. She has been involved in the development and implementation of science and technology and higher education policy in South Africa for a decade and a half, working in different capacities at the Human Sciences Research Council, the National Research Foundation and the Council on Higher Education.

Dr Lange has served as a member of the board of the International Network of Quality Assurance Agencies in Higher Education (INQAAHE) and has participated in several international initiatives on quality assurance. She was the editor of an academic journal focused on the humanities, Acta Academica, and is a board member and reviewer of other South African academic journals focused on higher education. She has undertaken research and published in the fields of history, higher education and quality assurance both locally and internationally. Dr Lange’s research interests are focused on the philosophy and politics of education. She has done research on change in higher education as well as on the meanings and possibilities of the notion of transformation and curriculum change.

Appointed in 2021 for the region Europe and North America.

Dr Gerald K. LeTendre is Professor of Education at Pennsylvania State University in the USA. He is the Harry Lawrence Batschelet II Chair of Educational Administration, and co-editor of The American Journal of Education. He received his B.A. (magna cum laude) in sociology from Harvard University and was awarded a Rockefeller Fellowship to do fieldwork among Tibetan refugees.

Dr. LeTendre has published on a broad range of topics in comparative and international education. His books include Learning to be Adolescent (Yale University Press), Improving Teacher Quality (Teachers College Press, co-authored with Motoko Akiba), Promoting and Sustaining a Quality Teacher Workforce (Emerald, co-edited with Alex Wiseman), and most recently The International Handbook of Teacher Quality and Policy (Routledge, co-edited with Motoko Akiba). His current research focuses on how information and communication technology (ICT) - specifically social robots - is changing teacher work roles and teacher professional development around the world.