Malinda Lindquist Named New Associate Dean for Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion

Role will strengthen the culture of DEI throughout the College
Photo of Malinda Lindquist
Associate Professor Malinda Lindquist

In June, Associate Professor Malinda Lindquist will assume the role of Associate Dean for Diversity, Equity & Inclusion for the College of Liberal Arts. Professor Lindquist will provide leadership to the College and its units regarding diversity, equity, inclusion (DEI) and racial justice and equity, strengthen the culture of DEI throughout the College and in its policies, procedures, and practices, and work to build the inclusive environment that enables first-rate research and creative work, teaching, and engagement. Professor Lindquist is an associate professor of history and affiliate faculty in African American & African studies and gender, women & sexuality studies in the College of Liberal Arts.

She received her PhD in history from Princeton University. Professor Lindquist’s areas of research and teaching are US, African American, gender, intellectual, and educational history. Her book, Race, Social Science, and the Crisis of Manhood, 1890-1970 (Routledge, 2011), is an intellectual history of Black manhood and masculinity through the lens of late-nineteenth- and early-twentieth-century American social science. Her current research explores the century-long national, social, scientific, legal, and local contestations over achievement, harm, and equity animating educational practice, scholarship, activism, and reform. Her work has appeared in Left History, Gender and History, and other edited collections, and been supported by the Ford Foundation, the National Endowment for the Humanities, and, at the University of Minnesota, by the Institute for Advanced Study, Imagine and IDEA grants, and an Interdisciplinary Collaborative Workshop (ICW) grant. She is a member of the editorial collective for Gender and History. As the principal investigator (PI) and co-organizer of the Public Scholarship and Teaching ICW, Lindquist has spent the last two years working collaboratively to build intellectual, pedagogical, and activist bridges between faculty and students at the University of Minnesota Twin Cities, Howard University, Morehouse College, and Spelman College.

Deep commitment to service

Professor Lindquist has served in numerous service and administrative capacities at the departmental, college, and campus levels. Presently, she is a faculty senator, the Director of Undergraduate Studies in the Department of Gender, Women & Sexuality Studies, and Writing-Enriched Curriculum (WEC) Liaison and Legacy Project PI for a two-year grant exploring equitable and public writing pedagogies in the Department of History. She was a member of both the Council on Liberal Education and the Liberal Education Redesign Committee (2017–19) and of the Taskforce on Building Renaming and Institutional History (2018–19). She has served as the Director of Undergraduate Studies in the Department of History (2016–18), chaired CLA’s Scholastic Conduct Committee, and served on various College committees including Curriculum, Instruction, and Advising. At the department level, she has served on a variety of committees including Graduate Studies and Promotion, Merit & Tenure, and served on several occasions as an advisor/mentor in the Minority Summer Research Outreach Program. In 2020, she was a recipient of a Horace T. Morse-Alumni Award for Outstanding Contributions to Undergraduate Education.

Innovative leadership during times of change and opportunity

“The College will benefit from Professor Lindquist’s creative, dynamic, and forward-looking thinking and collaborative leadership during these times of change and opportunity,” said Dean of the College John Coleman. 

In this new role, Professor Lindquist also will consult with other key leaders and units in CLA such as the director of undergraduate diversity, equity, and access; the Martin Luther King, Jr. Program; the Race, Indigeneity, Gender, and Sexuality Initiative (RIGS); the Indigenous Staff & Staff of Color Community, and others.  

Professor Lindquist will serve on the CLA administrative leadership team and work collaboratively with the dean, the other associate deans, the directors of advancement, fiscal administration, human resources, and technology and innovation services in CLA. She will also work in collaboration with faculty and staff, leadership at the department level, associate deans and similar positions of other colleges, and University offices including the Office of Equity and Diversity. 

Building on past toward a stronger future

After several years of pursuing the addition of such a position, CLA announced in October the active search for the new College leadership role that will provide leadership and support on matters of racial equity and justice including internal culture and climate; recruitment and retention of faculty, staff, and students; action steps to reduce student equity gaps; and the application of a rigorous equity lens on our policies, procedures, and practices.

“Professor Lindquist will build upon a great deal of infrastructure already in place,” said Coleman. “From this position, we will continue to make significant strides. Professor Lindquist will play an important role in advancing diversity, equity, and inclusion by coordinating the work already underway throughout the College, evaluating what is working and what is needed, and empowering our community to use new tools that will move our work forward.” 
 

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