Dr. Wipada Kunaviktikul is a Professor and the Dean of the Faculty of Nursing, Chiang Mai University, Thailand. She is the Director of Nursing Policy and Outcome Center (NPOC), the Head of the World Health Organization Collaborating Center for Nursing and Midwifery Development (WHOCC No. 203). She  obtained  her  doctoral  degree  from  the  University  of  Alabama  at Birmingham, USA, in 1994 and was a research fellow at the Harvard University School of Public Health, USA for one year. In 2013, she was inducted as a fellow of the American Academy of Nursing.

Dr. Wipada has over two decades of research experience, specifically in the areas of nursing administration, policy, health care system, and quality of care. She has served as the Chair of the Master Degree Program in Nursing Administration for the past 10 years, and is a member of the Doctoral Administrative Committee and is Chair of Graduate Studies at the Faculty of Nursing, Chiang Mai University. Her publications have been accepted by national and international journals, and she is invited to be speaker at national and international levels in the areas of health promotion, nursing education, research, partnership, leadership and administration. She has also received several national and international awards e.g. ‘International Nurse Researcher Hall of Fame 2011’, Sigma Theta Tau International, Honor Society of Nursing, USA, The UAB School of Nursing’s Visionary Leader in 60th Anniversary Celebration, School of Nursing, The University of Alabama at Birmingham, USA, “National Distinguished  Professor  in  Health  Science  Award  2010”  Council  of  University  Faculty Senate of Thailand. Besides, she has been a chair of four international conferences and more than 50 international trainings, and also several conferences arranged in Thailand.