Editing Pamela Sugiman

Dean Pamela Sugiman was chair of the Department of Sociology at Ryerson University since 2012. She joined Ryerson in 2006 after holding a tenure-stream position for 15 years at McMaster University. In the course of her career, Dean Sugiman has built a reputation for creativity, collegiality, transparency and vision. She has had a long-standing commitment to issues of social justice, equity, diversity and inclusion. These values are rooted in her personal history and have profoundly shaped her scholarly pursuits.
Through roles in the broader community and the university, Dean Sugiman has cultivated her leadership skills and gained much administrative experience. She has served as president of the Canadian Sociological Association, the director on the national executive board of the National Association of Japanese Canadians, and an elected faculty representative on the Ryerson University Board of Governors.
A distinguished researcher, Dean Sugiman is committed to further nurturing and supporting a vibrant culture of research and social engagement in the Faculty of Arts. She currently serves on the Executive Committee and Steering Committee, and leads the Oral History Research Cluster of Landscapes of Injustice, a multi-institutional, $5.5-million initiative funded by a Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council (SSHRC) Partnership Grant.
For her excellence in research, she has been awarded an Outstanding Contribution Award from the Canadian Sociological Association. In recognition of her overall excellence in research, teaching and service, she has received a Marion Dewar Prize in Canadian Women’s History from the National Capital Committee on the Scholarship, Preservation and Dissemination of Women’s History.
As a graduate student, Dean Sugiman was supported by a Connaught Fellowship and an SSHRC Doctoral Fellowship. As a faculty researcher, she has received SSHRC Standard and Insight research grants. She has served on numerous research-based adjudication committees, including the former Federal Status of Women External Committee to the Policy Research Fund, the Canada Research Chair College of Reviewers and the Awards to Scholarly Publications Program.
Enhancing undergraduate and graduate education, teaching and student life within the Faculty of Arts are among Sugiman’s priorities as dean. She would also like to build on Arts’ reputation for having a high level of student engagement and success. Dean Sugiman is dedicated to providing students with innovative programs of study that are socially relevant and academically rigorous.