The University of Lethbridge Board of Governors has appointed Dr. Claudia Malacrida, one of Canada’s leading sociologists, as the new Associate Vice-President (Research).
Malacrida joined the University’s Department of Sociology in 2002 was recently appointed a Tier I Board of Governors Research Chair.
“Dr. Malacrida is one of our most respected researchers, and someone who brings outstanding perspective and experience to this position,” says the University’s Vice-President (Research), Dr. Erasmus Okine. “As the University continues to expand its research footprint, Dr. Malacrida will serve an essential role in helping us achieve our strategic goals and further establish the U of L’s reputation as a comprehensive academic and research institution. I’m eager to begin working with her."
The Associate Vice-President (Research) reports directly to the Vice-President (Research), and works to forward the mission of the U of L Strategic Research Plan by providing operational management and leadership, as specified by the VPR, in the development and promotion of research, scholarly and creative activities, and innovation.
“Taking on this role represents an exciting new direction for me, and a welcome opportunity to contribute to the growth of our research across the disciplines, in the community and in the academy,” says Malacrida.
Malacrida’s work investigates questions of power and the construction of difference historically and in the present. Exploring topics related to motherhood, disability, gender and family, she is deeply concerned with the way our bodies are influenced and affected by social policies and practices.
Her historical research on eugenics and institutionalization of individuals with disabilities spawned her fourth and latest book, A Special Hell: Institutional Life in Alberta’s Eugenics Years, released earlier this year.
Malacrida sits on the board of Disability & Society and Qualitative Health Research and holds several major grants, including a SSHRC grant for the Newgenics to Eugenics project, and an AIHS grant for the Childbirth and Choice project.
Malacrida first earned a Bachelor of Psychology at the University of Calgary in 1994, followed by a Master of Sociology, also at the U of C. She completed her PhD in Sociology in 2001 at the University of Alberta and held positions as an adjunct assistant professor at both the U of C (2003-2011) and U of A (2005-2008) while advancing from assistant professor to associate and then full professor at the U of L.
Malacrida will officially assume the role of Associate Vice-President (Research) beginning January 1, 2016 and serve a five-year term.