Dr. Malinda Smith appointed vice-provost (equity, diversity and inclusion)

Following an extensive search, I am pleased to announce that Dr. Malinda Smith has been appointed vice-provost (equity, diversity and inclusion), effective Aug. 1, 2020. Dr. Smith joins UCalgary from the University of Alberta where she is currently a professor in the Department of Political Science, conducting research and teaching in the areas of international and comparative politics, critical race studies, and gender and politics and serving as a provost fellow in equity, diversity, and inclusion (EDI) policy in the Office of the Provost at the University of Alberta.

As UCalgary’s inaugural vice-provost (EDI), Dr. Smith will be responsible for leading on issues of human rights, diversity, inclusion and equity with stakeholders across campus and driving UCalgary’s institutional and community EDI goals.

Dr. Smith is a nationally recognized leader in EDI. She is widely regarded for her contributions to developing next-generation equity policies, including several task force reports and advisory roles in the post-secondary sector and at various levels of government. A 2018 Pierre Elliott Trudeau Foundation Fellow, her research, “A Seat at the Table: Engendering Black Canadian Pasts and Futures,” focuses on unearthing stories of Black hidden figures in Canadian politics, law and higher education. She is co-editor of the forthcoming volume, Nuances of Blackness in the Canadian Academy. Dr. Smith also serves on Statistics Canada’s Expert Working Group on Black Communities in Canada, and on immigration and ethnocultural statistics.

As the first person of colour to serve on the executive of the Federation for the Humanities and Social Sciences, Dr. Smith, as vice-president equity, spearheaded Equity Matters on the Ideas-Idees blog, and worked to embed EDI in Congress programming. She also has advanced equity as a member of the Canadian Association of University Teachers’ Racialized Academic Staff working group and as equity chair of her university’s faculty association. In addition, she contributed to EDI initiatives in national granting agencies, including the Dimensions EDI Charter and the Canada Research Chairs Program’s Advisory Committee on EDI Policy.

Dr. Smith is the co-author of The Equity Myth: Racialization and Indigeneity at Canadian Universities, editor or co-editor of five books and numerous articles and book chapters. She has received numerous awards and honours including most recently: the NBCC Rosalind Smith Professional Award (2020), the ISA’s Susan S. Northcutt Award (2020), a Pierre Elliott Trudeau Foundation Fellowship (2018), the ISA-Canada Distinguished Scholar Award (2018-2019), and a University of Alberta Equity, Diversity and Inclusion Award, (2018).

Born and raised in The Bahamas, Dr. Smith was awarded two master’s degrees from Western Michigan University (development administration, and political science), and a PhD in international relations and political philosophy from the University of Alberta.

I would like to thank the members of the Vice-Provost (EDI) Search Advisory Committee, which I chaired, for their exceptional work and contribution to this process. They are:

Florentine Strzelczyk and Michael Hart (provost team representatives), Lesley Rigg (decanal representative), Susan Skone (vice-president, research designate), Dawn Johnston (co-chair, Gender and Sexual Diversity Committee), Carla Bertsch (sexual violence support advocate), Justine Wheeler (TUCFA representative), Sharla Mann (MAPS representative), Lorinda Hammond (AUPE representative), Alisha Gordon (SU representative) and Mina Iskander (GSA representative).

Please join me in congratulating Malinda on her appointment and welcoming her to our campus community when she begins in August.

Dr. Dru Marshall
Provost and Vice-President (Academic)