Becerra-Fernandez went on to earn her undergraduate and master’s from the University of Miami and a Ph.D. in engineering from Florida International University, where she rose through the ranks from a visiting professor to vice provost for engagement. Though Becerra-Fernandez focused on mathematics, one experience in her early years motivated her to take the school’s STEM program in a different direction.
“I didn’t know what a resistor was, and the boys made fun of me for it,” she says. “I started with a disadvantage. I had shortcomings because I had never played with these things as a kid.”
Under the leadership of FIU President Mark Rosenberg, Becerra-Fernandez is changing that lack of exposure to resources for underrepresented minorities through a number of initiatives, including the Life Sciences South Florida initiative, which strives to foster innovation by supporting nascent science, biotechnology and pharmaceutical industries; create programs to increase STEM student and work force development; and recruit and retain talent in the South Florida region. There is also a partnership between FIU and Miami-Dade Public Schools, known as The Education Effect, which prepares high school students for college.
