Dean's Message - May 17, 2021

Dear GSBS Community,

May is Asian and Pacific American Heritage Month, a time in which to pay tribute to the generations of individuals with this background who enrich America’s history. I am one of those individuals. I grew up in a working-class family who suffered from Canada’s Chinese Exclusion Act. As a result, my parents did not receive educational opportunities and were forced to work menial jobs to support me and my siblings. I am a first-generation college graduate, although I did have older siblings and cousins as role models. 

I came to science through reading comic books, and was fortunate enough to find mentors who encouraged me. Through talent, determination and hard work, I was able to complete a PhD and find an academic job, a privilege I accepted gladly. I was one of few Asian faculty, but at the beginning of my career did not think about academia’s roots in traditions created by and for white Europeans. 

As a professor, and now as Dean, I work to change this system. I encourage you all to continue the important work of building a more inclusive academy.

Dan Jay, Dean