UBCBulletin Updates for leadership

Dr. Lisa Sundstrom appointed Associate Vice-President, Research & Innovation

This message was sent to executive, deans and other senior academic leaders, academic heads, directors and managers in Vancouver and Okanagan.

January 27, 2025

I am pleased to announce the appointment of Dr. Lisa Sundstrom as Associate Vice-President, Research & Innovation, effective July 1, 2025.

Lisa will be joining our portfolio leadership team alongside Associate Vice-Presidents, Research & Innovation, Dr. Rachel Fernandez and Dr. Suzie Currie (who is also Vice-Principal, Research & Innovation at UBC Okanagan.) Together, we will continue to provide strategic guidance and assistance to the diverse range of portfolio units and initiatives that support UBC’s research and innovation activities. 

Lisa is a professor in UBC’s Department of Political Science, having joined the university in 2002. Her research focuses on democratic and autocratic dynamics, human rights, gender politics, climate politics, and NGO activism in both domestic and international arenas, with a regional area of expertise in Russia and the former Soviet Union. Lisa has served in leading the Human Rights Section of the International Studies Association and has provided extensive support to our research community as UBC’s Social Sciences and Humanities Research Advisor since 2021. We are very much looking forward to her joining our team in July following her sabbatical.

Please join me in extending congratulations and welcoming Lisa to the role.


Gail Murphy
Vice-President, Research & Innovation

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