Anderson named associate dean of academic affairs at ASU Graduate College

Lisa M. Anderson, an associate professor of women and gender studies and former deputy director in the School of Social Transformation, has been named associate dean of academic affairs in the Graduate College at Arizona State University.

As the associate dean, Anderson will oversee program quality, graduate faculty reviews and approvals, and the University Graduate Council. She will play a major role in planning, improving and evaluating graduate education at ASU.

“It was important to me, and to the entire Graduate College team, that we recruit a faculty member with experience administering academic policies that foster a culturally and intellectually diverse environment for our graduate students,” said Elizabeth A. Wentz, vice provost and dean of the Graduate College. “Dr. Anderson’s expertise in gender and race studies and her passion for equity, diversity and inclusion will help us build on our commitment to inclusive excellence at ASU.”

For Anderson, becoming the associate dean of graduate academic affairs is a dream job.  

“I couldn’t be more pleased about joining the Graduate College. I look forward to working with the Graduate College team, graduate directors in the academic units and, of course, graduate students,” said Anderson. “One area I plan to focus on is making sure that underrepresented and first-generation graduate students have what they need to be successful.”

Anderson has been teaching at ASU since 2000. She teaches graduate and undergraduate courses on feminist theory, film, representation and performance in women and gender studies at the School of Social Transformation. She served as the faculty head of women and gender studies at ASU from 2014–19 and is the former deputy director of the School of Social Transformation.

She earned a bachelor’s degree in politics from Mount Holyoke College in 1987, a master’s degree in theater from Smith College in 1988 and a doctorate in theater history and criticism from the University of Washington in 1995. 

Additionally, Anderson is the author of two books. Her most recent book, "Black Feminism in Contemporary Drama," was published by University of Illinois Press in 2008. Currently, she is working on a book on Black women in television and a co-authored volume on the intersections of race, gender and sexuality in phenomenology.

Outside of teaching and research, Anderson is an avid hiker and an amatuer mycologist with a love for fungi.

Anderson will assume her position at the Graduate College in January 2022. 

Written by Jenna Nabors