Gladys McCormick, associate professor of history, has been named the Maxwell School’s director of diversity, equity, and inclusion.

In this recently created post, McCormick will lead and advise on issues of diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) in the Maxwell School, and will represent the School to the University community and external stakeholders, such as alumni and the Maxwell Advisory Board. In addition to advising, she will develop a DEI strategic plan and organize events to promote diversity, equity, and inclusion in the School; and will assist departments, administrators, and students in their efforts to promote DEI. McCormick is expected also to collaborate closely with diversity officers in other schools and colleges, and with the University’s chief diversity officer.

McCormick, who holds the Jay and Debe Moskowitz Endowed Chair in Mexico-U.S. Relations, is a scholar of the political and economic history of Latin America and the Caribbean who has demonstrated a strong commitment to issues of diversity and inclusion across Syracuse University. For the past year, she has co-chaired the Maxwell Faculty of Color Group, of which she has been an active member since its creation; she has served on the Chancellor’s Ad Hoc Committee on Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA)/Undocumented Students; and she has been a longtime mentor to many students of color, both undergraduate and graduate, since arriving at the University in 2010. McCormick is originally from Costa Rica, and came to the United States in 1992 to attend Hampshire College. She received her PhD from the University of Wisconsin, Madison.

“We are especially excited about Professor McCormick’s international perspective on issues of diversity, equity, and inclusion,” said Carol Faulkner, associate dean of the Maxwell School, about the appointment. “She brings proven experience in creating a more inclusive and supportive climate for faculty and students of color to this new role at Maxwell.” 

“I am thrilled to take on this new role,” McCormick said, “because the time is ripe for building on what School leadership has put in place with more intentional changes in Maxwell. I want us to be sensitive to the inequalities that have affected our diverse population of faculty, staff, and students, while using our knowledge of the social sciences to find more creative solutions to current injustices and systemic racism.”

06/24/20