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Dean RSA studied Sculpture at Glasgow School of Art (1979-84) and completed her PhD at the University of Stirling in 2004 for her thesis, 'Border Crossings: In/Exclusion and Higher Education in Art and Design,' which explored ideas of inclusion and exclusion – in/exclusion – within art, education and community contexts. She has received numerous awards for her work, including the RSA Guthrie Award and medal. As well as her studio practice, she has led on a number of creative research, curatorial and educational developments, including strategies such as Artpark Glasgow for House for an Art Lover (with Jim Harold), LEARN for Glasgow International Festival of Visual Art, and developing a recent pilot series of Co-curated exhibitions with East Dunbartonshire Culture and Leisure Trust, establishing collaborations between artists, communities and archives. Women's Histories is also a strong interest and Dean curated Women Peace Crusaders - a multi-layered exhibition, involving artists, volunteers, researchers, libraries and archives - in collaboration with Glasgow Women’s Library (GWL) and the University of Glasgow. Dean was also invited by Wigtown Book Festival to present her research on activist and suffragette Flora Murray, commissioned as a new print work by GWL for their 21 Revolutions exhibition and publication. Dean was elected ARSA in 1988 and to full Academician rank in 2005.