Provided

Sara Xayarath Hernández

Sara Xayarath Hernández, MRP ’07, director of Diversity Programs in Engineering (DPE) at Cornell since 2009, has been named associate dean for inclusion and student engagement in the Graduate School. She will begin her new role later this spring.

Hernández has held leadership positions in her current office since completing her graduate studies in 2005. As director of DPE, she developed and oversaw programming and key initiatives in the college focused on recruitment, retention, inclusion and achievement for undergraduate and graduate students.

Under her leadership, DPE has played a key role in increasing the participation and success of students from backgrounds traditionally underrepresented in engineering. She has advised and mentored graduate and undergraduate students and served as co-principal investigator on the Cornell University Engineering Success program funded by the National Science Foundation and on the University Centers of Exemplary Mentoring program funded by the Sloan Foundation. President Barack Obama recognized DPE in 2011 with a Presidential Award for Excellence in Science, Mathematics and Engineering Mentoring.

Hernández’s appointment was announced by Senior Vice Provost and Dean of the Graduate School Barbara Knuth, who led the search committee.

“We are delighted that Sara will be joining the Graduate School and devoting her considerable expertise to the graduate community,” Knuth said. “With her strategic vision and record of achievement, she will advance our work in inclusion and engagement.”

Hernández will lead the Office of Inclusion and Student Engagement, with a central role in Graduate School efforts to recruit, retain and support a diverse community of graduate and professional students and postdoctoral scholars. Her responsibilities as associate dean include coordinating and providing student engagement and professional development programming designed to enhance all students’ academic success, improve retention and completion rates, and prepare students for academic and nonacademic careers after they attain their graduate degrees; and encouraging participation in these programs among students from populations historically underrepresented in graduate education.

As one of five University Diversity Officers, she also will help steer Toward New Destinations diversity initiatives in colleges and units across the university.

“I look forward to joining the Graduate School and collaborating with a diversity of partners on initiatives that will enhance the environment, experiences and outcomes for our graduate and professional students and postdoctoral scholars, who are all vital members of the Cornell community,” Hernández said. “I also look forward to collaborating with the other University Diversity Officers as well as partners throughout the university to support the development, progress and impact of Toward New Destinations initiatives.”

“We are very proud of Sara’s accomplishments as director of Diversity Programs in Engineering and as a passionate and effective advocate in the College of Engineering for greater inclusion and diversity,” said Alan Zehnder, associate dean for diversity and faculty development. “Although she will be dearly missed in Engineering we are very happy to see that her talents will be applied for the benefit of the entire Cornell graduate community. We look forward to working with her in her new role.”