Professor Stephen C. Calleya is Director and International Relations Associate Professor at the Mediterranean Academy of Diplomatic Studies at the University of Malta. He has written, published and edited many books including Evaluating Euro-Mediterranean Relations published by Routledge of London. He is the editor of the journal Mediterranean Politics published by Frank Cass of London, and associate editor of Global Networks published by Blackwell of Oxford. He is Visiting Professor at Centre for European Integration Studies (ZEI), University of Bonn and a member of Euro-Mediterranean Study commission, (EuroMeSCo). He has participated as a guest analyst in numerous interviews, including regular contributions to the BBC World Service.

Doctor George G. Debono attended the University of Malta, and qualified MD Registered at General Medical Council, London. He held various posts in Paediatrics in Malta and London and carried out clinical research for CIBA-Geigy in Switzerland and Rhone Poulenc Pharma in Denmark. In 1990 he retired to Malta and started to participate in many activities related to Malta’s welfare and environment with particular focus on renewable energy. He is active in fostering a greater appreciation of music in Malta and encouraging young musicians.

Sina Bugeja received her training as a State Registered Nurse at St Luke’s Hospital Nursing School and later furthered her studies to specialise in Renal Dialysis at the University of Gothenburg, Faculty of Medicine in Sweden. She continued her studies with a postgraduate course in Family Planning at Budapest Medical School in Hungary followed by an MSc in Health Promotion and Health Education. Ms Bugeja was Chief Executive Officer of sedqa, the National Agency against Drug and Alcohol Abuse, and Principal Health Promotion Officer in the Ministry of Health. She is currently Executive Director of the National Commission for the Promotion of Equality (NCPE) Malta.

Professor Peter Serracino Inglott graduated B.A. in Philosophy from the University of Malta and read for his Masters at Oxford University. He also gained a Ph.D from the Universita Cattolica del Sacro Cuore di Milano with a thesis on Wittgenstein’s Tractatus Logico-Philosophicus. He has written books and many articles in the border areas between philosophy and the human sciences as well as the libretti of four operas. His many awards include Doctor of the University by Brunel University, UK and D.Litt (Honoris Causa) by Luther College, Decora, Iowa among many others. He is Professor of Philosophy and Chairman of the Mediterranean Institute at the University of Malta.

Joseph Sammut graduated in economics and public administration. In 1969 he joined the Office of the Prime Minister as a macro-economist, attaining the top post of Economy Secretary in 1976. Mr Sammut was Administrative Secretary and Head of the Civil Service for over 12 years with an interruption of a period of two years when he served as Ambassador to Saudi Arabia and the Gulf Cooperation Council States and High Commissioner to India with residence in Riyadh. He resigned from the Civil Service to take up the post of Parliamentary Ombudsman in 1995. In 2001 he was reappointed unanimously for a second term by the House of Representatives.

Professor Juanito Camilleri is currently Rector of the University of Malta. He read a Bachelors degree in Computer Science at the University of Kent in Canterbury UK obtaining first class honours and was awarded a Rotary Prize for Distinction. He moved to Cambridge to pursue a doctorate in Theoretical Computer Science which he completed in 1990.He started his career as a research fellow at the University of Cambridge, UK. In 1992 he moved back to Malta and founded the department of Computer Science and AI at the University of Malta. He was commissioned by the government of Malta to formulate Malta’s first National Strategy for Information Technology. Prof. Camilleri has occupied various posts as a member on the Board of Directors of EneMalta, Malta Development Corporation, MITTS, Melita Cable plc and others.

Joseph V. Tabone received his education at the Lyceum in Malta and attended a variety of higher educational and training institutions in Canada. In 1963 he joined the Government of Ontario, working in various capacities largely associated with education administration and policy. He served a total of 30 years in Canada in different managerial positions in education, social services and information systems. In 1989 he was seconded for one year to the Government of Malta to lead the public service reform. Between 1997 and 1999 Mr Tabone was retained as adviser by the Commonwealth Secretarial in London. In 2000 he was appointed to set up the Malta Communications Authority.

Joseph F. X. Zahra graduated from the University of Malta with a First Class Honours degree in Economics in 1976 and a Masters degree in Economics in 1979. Mr Zahra is Charter Marketer, Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Marketing and a Member of the Market Research Society, UK. He has held various important positions in the financial and economic sectors including those of Secretary to the UNIDO National Committee and Chairman Valletta Fund Management Ltd among others. He is the co-founder and Managing Director of Misco (Market Intelligence Service Co. Ltd) and Director of Impetus Europe Consulting. He is a member of the EU Affairs Unit of the Chamber of Commerce and was Chairman of the National Euro Changeover Committee. He has been Chairman of the National Commission for Higher Education since 2006.

Marlene Mizzi graduated B.A (Hons) Econ from the University of Malta and M. Phil at Maastricht School of Management. Ms Mizzi has worked for banks across Europe for 20 years. She was Chairman of Sea Malta Co. Ltd and is currently on the Board of Directors at Bank of |Valletta, as well as a member of the Audit Committee – BoV and the Remuneration Committee − BoV She is a member of the Council of the Malta Chamber of Commerce. She is currently reading for a PhD in “Effective Boards and Corporate Governance”.

Martin Scicluna was educated at St Edward’s College, at the Royal Military Academy, Sandhurst, the Army Staff College, Camberley and at the Royal College of Defence Studies, London. He retired to Malta at the end of a career spent first in the British Army and then as a civil servant in the Ministry of Defence in London for 23 years. He was adviser to two Prime Ministers of Malta on defence policy matters and is currently adviser to the Government of Malta on illegal immigration Mr Scicluna is a member of the Council of Europa Nostra and of the Board of the International Trust Organisation (INTO).

Philip Micallef has a B.Sc (Eng ) degree in Electrical Engineering specialising in Telecommunications from the University of Malta. He also holds a Masters in Business Administration from the University of Warwick, UK. In May 2008 he was appointed Executive Chairman of the Malta Communications Authority. He was appointed by the Government of Malta to sit on the Board of Directors of Maltacom plc as one of the four members representing the 60% government shareholding from 2000 to 2002. In 1997 he was country manager for SITA in Malta From 1992 to 1996, Mr Micallef was Manager Strategy and Planning at MSU, a government owned agency entrusted with re-engineering government.

Dr Petra Bianchi graduated BA (Hons) and MA from the University of Malta, and gained a D.Phil. in English literature from the University of Oxford in 2000. She obtained an MBA from the Maastricht School of Management in 2003. Dr Bianchi is director of the British Council in Malta, and vice-president of Din l-Art Helwa, Malta’s national trust. She is a board member of the Valletta, Mdina and Cottonera Rehabilitation Committees, the Committee of Guarantee, and the Council for Voluntary Organisations, and is Visiting Lecturer within the Department of English, University of Malta. She has published numerous articles on cultural and historical subjects linked to the Maltese Islands, and is the author of a novel.

John Cassar White graduated BA in Humanities from the University of Malta.

He joined the National Bank of Malta (now BoV) in 1972 and was elected Associate Member of the Institute of Financial Services in 1976 after completing the prescribed exams. He worked in different areas of the bank and occupied senior management posts until taking early retirement in May 2008.

Over the past 40 years, he has served on various boards, including Air Malta, MIMCOL and Malta Shipyards.

He is a director of two foreign investment companies registered in Malta and currently works as a lecturer at MCAST.

He is also a freelance writer with a regular column in the Times Business covering mainly socio-economic topics.

Dr. Clare Thake Vassallo is a Senior Lecturer in English and Translation Studies at the University of Malta and has published various papers in her areas of interest, which include translation and post-colonial theory, genre theory and feminist critical theory.
Dr Thake Vassallo has a BA (Gen) in Philosophy and English Literature with Linguistics, a BA (Hons) in English with Linguistics, and a Ph.D in Semiotics from the Istituto di Comunicazione, Università degli Studi di Bologna.
She was chairman of the Public Broadcasting Service between 2008 and 2010 and has served on various committees. She was Chair of the British Culture Association and is currently a member of the University Faculty of Arts MA Committee, the English Speaking Union and is on the Committee on Bilingualism in schools in Malta.

She is currently co-editing and translating a selection of essays for the University of Toronto Press on Semiotics and Translation.

Professor Josef Bonnici graduated B.A. (Hons) in Economics from the University of Malta, and read for his Masters and PhD from Simon Fraser University, Canada specialising in the areas of Monetary Economics, Macroeconomics and Econometrics. He was awarded a Doctor of Humanities, Honoris Causa from Rikkyo University in Japan. He has published books and many articles in professional Economics journals, and lectured at Deakin University in Australia, and Simon Fraser University in Canada.

He was advisor to the Prime Minister of Malta, Parliamentary Secretary in Finance and Minister for Economic Services in two legislatures, with a wide portfolio, including that of economic development policy. He was Observer member of the European Parliament, and Member of the European Court of Auditors, with responsibility for the institution’s Statement of Assurance(DAS).

He is currently professor of Economics at the University of Malta, focusing primarily on Monetary Economics, Macroeconomics and Econometrics.