Malinda Smith

Associate Vice-President Research (Equity, Diversity and Inclusion), University of Calgary

Dr. Malinda S. Smith is an Associate Vice President (Research-EDI) and a full professor of political science at the University of Calgary. She serves as Co-Chair of the President’s Task Force on Equity, Diversity, Inclusion and Accessibility, Chair of the Dimensions EDI Team, and Lead of the One Child Every Child Equitable Pathways Accelerator and Equitable Pathways Council.

Dr. Smith holds a PhD in political science from the University of Alberta, an MA, MDA, and a BA magna cum laude in political science and criminal justice from Western Michigan University. She is the coauthor of The Equity Myth: Racialization and Indigeneity at Canadian Universities (2017), and editor or co-editor of seven books including the Nuances of Blackness in the Canadian Academy (2022) and Critical Concepts: An Introduction to Politics (2023).

Nationally, Dr. Smith serves on SSHRC Council and Executive, Innovation, Science and Economic Development Canada (ISED) External EDI Advisory Board, Statistics Canada’s Immigration and Ethnocultural Statistics Advisory Committee. She is a Senior Fellow, Massey College, and serves as vice chair of the Steering Committee of the Scarborough Charter on Anti-Black Racism and Black Inclusion.

Dr. Smith is the recipient of numerous awards and fellowships, including a Lifetime Achievement Award, from the Calgary Black Chamber (2023), a Doctor of Laws, honoris causa, from Simon Fraser University (2021), 100 Accomplished Black Women Honouree (2020), a Pierre Elliott Trudeau Foundation Fellowship (2018), and an ISA-Canada Distinguished Scholar Award (2018-19).