Dr. Carla Cassidy was a Professor Emerita in the Department of Politics and Public Administration at Ryerson University. She received her Bachelor of Arts (Honours) from York University and her Master of Arts (MA) and Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.) from McMaster University , where she studied Political Philosophy.
She worked at Ryerson for 33 years in the Department of Politics and Public Administration. She was the chair of the department between 1996-2001 and developed the partnership between her department and the First Nations Technical Institute that delivers the BA in Public Administration and Governance to First Nations administrators in various locations across Ontario. She was the Dean of the Faculty of Arts between 2001-2010. During her time as the Dean, 9 new programs and many graduate programs. She participated in the fundraising and set up of the Chair in Indigenous Governance and the Centre for Indigenous Governance. She served as the Interim Vice President Research and Innovation from 2010-2011. In 2013 she received the Errol Aspevig Award for Outstanding Academic Leadership, and in 2015 she received the inaugural Dean's Excellence Award for Leadership. Carla Cassidy passed away September 30, 2022.