Murshid named associate dean for diversity, equity and inclusion

Congratulations to Associate Professor Nadine Shaanta Murshid on being named our new associate dean for diversity, equity and inclusion (ADDEI).

In response to the news, Murshid said, "As the incoming Associate Dean for DEI, I thank my predecessor, Hilary Weaver for paving the way for creating an inclusive space for those who are minoritized along racial, gender, sexuality, nationality, and class lines. It is an honor to serve in this role dedicated to promoting racial and social justice. With our esteemed colleagues at the School, University and the community, I am excited to build on our many strengths to dismantle the sources of oppression in all the spaces we inhabit."

The ADDEI plays a key role in ensuring that our school addresses and meets the requirements to maintain a welcoming and inclusive atmosphere for everyone—faculty, students, staff, administrators and alums. A proven record of advancing equity, accessibility and diversity across an array of elements is a plus point for the ADDEI position. The ADDEI must also demonstrate the capacity to approach complex conversations, issues, and interactions, appropriately given contextual realities, with diplomacy, advocacy, and insight. Murshid is known for her social consciousness on both the national and international levels, which guides her talks and publications in scholarly journals and popular media.

Her recent roles as member of the Implementation Committee of the President’s Advisory Council on Race, Interim ADDEI of UBSSW (2020-21) and co-Chair of the Board for Community Health Equity Research Institute, and her work as a co-founder of UBSSW’s Racial Justice Network paves the way to her current appointment. Her professional and research interests include structural violence in intimate spaces, economic institutions, and migration. As ADDEI, she will also serve as the school’s Unit Diversity Officer for UB, an administrative role she has filled previously on an interim basis. As our Unit Diversity Officer, she will regularly interface with UB’s Office of Inclusive Excellence.

Murshid joined the UBSSW faculty in 2014. She has served as co-lead of The Global Child, Community for Global Health Equity and as affiliate faculty for the Asian Studies Program, the Gender Institute, the Immigrant and Refugee Research Institute, and The Global Centre for Advanced Studies (GCAS).

She earned a PhD from Rutgers University School of Social Work, a master’s degree in Public Policy from the Australian National University, and a bachelor’s degree in Business Administration from James Madison University. Outside of academia, she has worked at Center for Policy Dialogue in Dhaka, Bangladesh; UNESCO in Phnom Penh, Cambodia; and the UN World Food Programme in Bangkok, Thailand.