Dr. Lisa Young

Biography

Over the past twenty-five years, Dr. Lisa Young has contributed significantly to graduate education at the University of Calgary and in Canada. This has taken the form of both leadership and research/publishing that have had a positive impact on graduate education in Canada. 

During her career, Dr Young has served as director of the graduate programs in Political Science (2005-8) and the MPP program (2019-2021), and as Associate Dean and then Dean of Graduate Studies. In all these roles, she took a student-centered approach. As Dean, she led the Faculty to establish the My GradSkills program to enhance students’ professional development, established the Transformative Talent Internship program, created a student-success team within the Faculty, and led reform of various policies and procedures. 

During the time she was Dean, Dr Young was active in the Canadian graduate education sector, serving on various national and regional boards. She co-led a national task force on the Dissertation, issuing a report that helped to structure conversations about the format and scope of the doctoral dissertation at Canadian institutions. 

Since stepping down as Dean, Dr Young’s research has focused in part on graduate education in her discipline (Political Science) and in the Social Sciences and Humanities more broadly. Working with colleagues Dr Loleen Berdahl and Dr Jonathan Malloy, she has undertaken surveys of PhD supervisors and students in Political Science Departments in English Canada. This research has been published in PS: Politics and Political Science and the Canadian Journal of Political Science.