Dr. Richard Sigurdson

Biography

Dr. Richard Sigurdson is Past Dean, Faculty of Arts, University of Calgary (2012-22) and Professor of Political Science. 

Sigurdson has published on a variety of topics, from history of political theory to the Charter of Rights in Canada, nationalism, populism, and immigration. His research has taken him abroad, including to Germany where he served as a visiting scholar at the JFK Institute of North American Studies at the Free University, Berlin in 2011 and again in 2024. He is an active political theorist. His book, Jacob Burckhardt's Social and Political Thought (2004) was the first to study Swiss cultural historian Burckhardt as an influential political thinker. His current work focuses on populist nationalism, including Christian nationalism, in both Europe and North America.

As Dean of Arts at UCalgary, Sigurdson promoted internationalization, Indigenous teaching and learning, and the student experience. Prior to his time at UCalgary, he was Dean of Arts at the University of Manitoba (2004-11), where he also held the Duff Roblin Professorship in Government (2011-12). He chaired the Department of Political Science at the University of New Brunswick, Fredericton, and was Department Chair and then Acting Dean of Arts at the University College of the Cariboo (now Thompson Rivers University) in Kamloops, B.C.

Sigurdson has a long-standing commitment to public service, volunteerism, and community engagement. He served, for instance, on the Manitoba Electoral Boundaries Commission. At UCalgary he co-chaired the University's United Way Campaign for three years. Sigurdson served as Vice-Chair of the Calgary Police Commission, which provides civilian oversight of the Calgary Police Service, and as Vice-Chair of the Board of Directors of Education Matters, a fundraising and advocacy foundation that promotes public education and student success.