Irma Becerra-Fernandez Ph.D. ’94 named interim VP for Engagement

Professor Irma Becerra-Fernandez Ph.D. ’94 has accepted the position of interim vice president for Engagement effective May 14. She replaces Divina Grossman, who recently was chosen as the new chancellor of the University of Massachusetts Dartmouth.

In her current post as the vice provost for Academic Affairs, Becerra-Fernandez has co-chaired several task forces focused on improving learning for FIU students. These include initiatives on writing and mathematics, as well as minority Ph.D. production, Web-based survey tools and clickers. She led the search for the university’s VP of Information Technology and CIO, and is chairing the search for the new VP for Student Affairs. She also continued her participation in the Americas Venture Capital Conference, serving as the program co-chair.

Becerra-Fernandez – a management information systems professor in the College of Business Administration, which she joined as a member of the faculty in 1998 – also has overseen the review of junior faculty working toward tenure. She previously served as director and fellow of the Eugenio Pino Global Entrepreneurship Center.

A proud Panther, she graduated as the first-ever female doctorate student in electrical engineering at FIU in 1994. Ten years later, she was recognized with an Outstanding Faculty Torch Award, presented by the FIU Alumni Association. In 2006, Becerra-Fernandez received the FIU Faculty Teaching Award and just last year, she earned the FIU Faculty Research Award. She also received the 2010 Engineer of the Year Award from the Association of Cuban Engineers and the 2012 In the Company of Women Award from Miami-Dade County.

Throughout her years at FIU and under the auspices of the FIU Knowledge Management Lab, which she founded, she has secured almost $2 million in federal grants through her relationships with NASA and other agencies.

A published author and  an expert in her field, Becerra-Fernandez focuses her research on knowledge management (KM) and KM systems, enterprise systems and disaster management.