Joy I. Butler, EdD, is an associate professor in the curriculum
and pedagogy department at the University of British Columbia in
Vancouver, British Columbia. She began the first International TGfU
Conference in 2001, established the TGfU International Task Force in
2002 and served as its chair through 2008, consulted for the second and
third TGfU conferences, and directed the 2008 conference. In addition to
coediting Teaching Games for Understanding in 2005, she has
coedited two other books on TGfU.
Dr. Butler serves as the coordinator of the first MEd Cohort with
specialization in TGfU in Canada. She has been a keynote speaker around
the world and has presented on TGfU at state, regional, national, and
international levels. She also coached the Southeast England U17 girls'
basketball team for nine years, taking the team to the national finals
three times.
A member of numerous educational and professional organizations, Dr.
Butler enjoys field hockey, basketball, windsurfing, and training dogs
in her leisure time.
Linda L. Griffin, PhD, is an associate dean and professor in the
School of Education at the University of Massachusetts at Amherst. TGfU
has been Dr. Griffin's primary research interest for nearly 20 years,
and she has coauthored three texts on the subject in addition to
coediting Teaching Games for Understanding in 2005 with Joy
Butler.
Dr. Griffin has presented internationally on TGfU on numerous occasions,
and she taught and coached for 14 years in K-12 settings. She served on
the planning committee for the first TGfU conference and served as chair
for the Curriculum and Instruction Academy for NASPE and as Research
Consortium president and chair for the AERA Special Interest Group in
Physical Education. She has also served as a reviewer for various
professional journals.
In her spare time, Dr. Griffin likes to bike, walk and hike with her
dog, read, and enjoy the beach.