Open date: November 6, 2025
Deadline to apply: While the search remains open until the position is filled, interested applicants are asked to submit their complete application package by January 7, 2026.
The Faculty of Education, one of the world’s leading faculties of its kind, invites internal applications for the position of the Dorothy Lam Chair in Inclusive Education.
The Faculty of Education invites internal candidates to apply for the Dorothy Lam Chair in Inclusive Education. We are seeking a scholar who can articulate a clear vision for achieving a demonstrable impact in inclusive education through the advancement of knowledge and improvement in practice and/or policy. In the context of this Chair, Inclusive Education is broadly defined as concerning the education of students with exceptionalities, which may include (but are not limited to): students with visual impairments, developmental disabilities, emotional or behavioural challenges in various learning contexts, learning disabilities across subject areas (e.g. reading, math, science, languages, etc.), physical disabilities, gifts and talents in various domains, and those who are deaf or hard of hearing. The Chair is open to study from a broad range of scholarly perspectives from across the Faculty of Education (e.g. socio-cultural, neuro-mechanical, critical, discipline-based, curriculum studies, etc.). All full-time tenure stream UBC Faculty of Education faculty members appointed on the Vancouver campus in either the Professoriate stream or the Educational Leadership stream at the rank of Assistant Professor*, Assistant Professor of Teaching*, Associate Professor, Associate Professor of Teaching, Professor, or Professor of Teaching are eligible to apply. The appointment of the Chair is expected to start July 1, 2026, or as negotiated with the successful candidate.
*Note that faculty members in the rank of Assistant Professor or Assistant Professor of Teaching must, at the time of application, have been in the rank at UBC for 3+ years to be eligible to hold this honorific.
In line with our commitment to honouring the intent of the generous funder of this Chair and the associated terms of reference, the appointee of this Chair is charged with the following mandate:
- Provide scholarly leadership through research or educational leadership in the area of inclusive education, as defined above. Additional considerations may include (but are not limited to) arts-based approaches, community-based approaches, anti-oppressive approaches, or motor learning.
- Conduct an ongoing research or educational leadership program in the area of inclusive education by working collaboratively with faculty and mentoring graduate students.
- Engage in research or educational leadership in the area of inclusive education that, with a focus on students with exceptionalities, is attentive to the experiences of historically, persistently, and systemically marginalized communities, notably Indigenous and racialized communities.
- Advance ties and engagement with educational communities through research or educational leadership program.
Interested applicants are asked to submit the following materials for consideration by the Dean, the Associate Dean, Research, and the advisory committee, for an appointment to this Chair:
- Cover letter (maximum two pages, single-spaced);
- Curriculum vitae;
- Short biography (maximum one page, single-spaced) that highlights key achievements in your CV in relation to this position;
- Vision statement (maximum three pages, single-spaced) for the Chair, indicating how you would implement the mandate described above and how you would assess the impact of the proposed activities and initiatives;
- EDID statement (maximum one page, single-spaced) that describes and documents your contributions to equity, diversity, inclusion, and decolonization (EDID) through your teaching, research or educational leadership, service, and community engagement, addressing the following three areas: (1) understanding of and knowledge about EDID, (2) track record in advancing EDID, and (3) future plans for EDID while holding this Chair, and
- Two letters of reference (maximum two pages, single-spaced, each) that are signed, dated, and on letterhead. The references shall be as follows:
- One university-affiliated faculty member external to the UBC Faculty of Education;
- One non-university community member with whom you have worked on issues relevant to this Chair.
All application materials must be submitted to the Office of the Dean via email (info.educ@ubc.ca) by the end of the day on Wednesday, January 7, 2026. The two confidential letters of reference must be sent by the referees to the same email.
Criteria for evaluation to be evidenced in the application materials shall include: (a) strong record of research or educational leadership excellence; (b) successful grant funding, if applicable; (c) demonstrated leadership in the discipline; (d) demonstrated excellence in teaching and graduate student supervision, where applicable; (e) strong ties to educational communities; (f) program of research or educational leadership that contributes to equity, diversity, inclusion, and decolonization in the discipline; and (g) alignment of the vision statement to the mandate of the Chair, as above. Priority will be given to new Chairholders.
Shortlisted candidates will be asked to participate in an individual interview with the advisory committee, as well as provide a public presentation followed by a question & answer session open to the Faculty of Education community. With the shortlisted candidates’ consent, their CVs and short biographies will be shared with the Faculty of Education community before the public presentation.
Terms of the Chair:
- The appointment will be for a three-year term.
- The Chair holder must maintain active full-time tenure stream employment status in the UBC Faculty of Education Vancouver Point Grey campus at the rank of Assistant Professor, Assistant Professor of Teaching, Associate Professor, Associate Professor of Teaching, Professor, or Professor of Teaching during the term of the Chair. Faculty members in the rank of Assistant Professor or Assistant Professor of Teaching must, at the time of application, have been in the rank at UBC for 3+ years in order to be eligible to hold this honorific.
- The Chair holder will be provided with annual financial support of $50,000 per year to be directed to research or educational leadership activities, research assistant support, and programmatic initiatives that are associated with the Chair. With approval and as permitted by the Faculty Workload Policy, funds can be used for teaching release at $15,000 per three-credit course (up to one course of teaching release per year). Release of funds is contingent on the approval of an annual budget prepared by the Chair holder and continued availability of the endowment fund’s annual spending allocation.
- Implementation and oversight of the Chair, with respect to budget review and annual reporting, will be guided by the Faculty of Education’s Internal Search Procedures for Chairs and Professorships, the Office of Research in Education (ORE), and the Development and Alumni Engagement (DAE) office requirements for annual reports to donors who fund the Chair.
Questions regarding this call for applications should be directed to Dr. Samia Khan, Associate Dean, Research, at samia.khan@ubc.ca.
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Equity and diversity are essential to academic excellence. An open and diverse community fosters the inclusion of voices that have been underrepresented or discouraged. We encourage applications from colleagues who are members of groups that have been marginalized on any grounds enumerated under the B.C. Human Rights Code, including sex, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, racialization, disability, political belief, religion, marital or family status, age, and/or status as a First Nation, Métis, Inuit, or Indigenous person.
