Dr. Malinda S. Smith is an Associate Vice President (Research-EDI) and a full professor of political science at the University of Calgary. 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). 

Previously she served as vice provost (EDI) and Co-Chair of the Presidential Task Force on Equity, Diversity, Inclusion and Accessibility. Currently, she leads inclusive research excellence initiatives in the Office of the Vice President Research, including serving as institutional EDI Advisor for the Canada Research Chairs Program, as Chair of the Dimensions EDI Team, and Lead of the One Child Every Child Equitable Pathways Accelerator. 

Nationally, Dr. Smith serves on SSHRC Council and Executive, Innovation, Science and Economic Development Canada (ISED) External EDI Advisory Board, Statistics Canada’s Ethnocultural and Immigration 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 Distinguished Alumni Award from the University of Alberta (2025), 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).