Terri E. Givens

Terri E. Givens (born October 30, 1964) is an author and political scientist. Givens is a professor at the University of British Columbia.

Education, research and service Givens earned her MA and PhD in political science from the University of California, Los Angeles. She did her undergraduate studies in international relations at Stanford University. At Stanford she studied under former US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and was a member of Stanford's track and field team.

Givens was provost and a full professor at Menlo College where she focused on the success of first-generation students and helped update the curriculum, where she was the first African-American and woman to serve in the role. She was also vice provost and full professor at University of Texas at Austin. She began her teaching career at the University of Washington as an assistant professor.

Givens has also been active in charitable and non-profit leadership. She has been a member of the board of the Boys and Girls Club of the Peninsula, Fit Kids, and was the founder and CEO of the Center for Higher Education Leadership. She is also an alum and serves on the board of Gonzaga Preparatory School.

Givens' academic research has focused on immigration politics and antidiscrimination policy at the national level in Britain, France, Germany, Belgium, and the Netherlands, and policy developments at the European Union level.

At McGill University, Givens is leading an effort to hire and retain more Black professors.

As of July 2024, Givens works at the University of British Columbia as a professor of race, ethnicity and politics.

Selected publications

Awards and fellowships Fellow, Kolleg-Forschergruppe “Transformative Power of Europe,” Freie Universitaet, Berlin, Germany, 2010-2018 Public Policy Scholar, Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars, Washington, D.C., 2012. Visiting Scholar, Centre d’Etudes et de Recherches Internationales, Sciences-Po, Paris, France, 2010. Distinguished Scholar Alumni from Stanford University, 2010. Gonzaga Preparatory School Hall of Fame, February 2025