Irma Becerra Fernandez

Irma Becerra Fernandez is a Cuban-American higher education leader who will take office as the seventh president of Marymount University in Arlington, Virginia on July 1, 2018. Prior to her current post, she was the Provost and Chief Academic Officer at St. Thomas University (Miami), a nonprofit, private university located in Miami, Florida.[1]

Irma Becerra Fernandez
EducationUniversity of Miami, B.S.
University of Miami, M.S.
Florida International University, Ph.D.
OccupationPresident
EmployerMarymount University, Virginia
Known forHigher Education Leadership

Becerra is known for expanding educational access for students and keenly targeting programming to meet societal needs and changing demographics. Her academic career, both as student and professional, has blended mathematics, engineering and systems thinking and processes in her studies, teaching and administrative leadership.

Education

Becerra received her Bachelor of Science and Master of Science degrees in Electrical Engineering from University of Miami. She received her Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.) degree from Florida International University also in Electrical Engineering.

Career

Becerra will take office as the seventh president of Marymount University in Arlington, Virginia on July 1, 2018.[2] Prior to her current post, she was the Provost and Chief Academic Officer at St. Thomas University, a nonprofit, private university located in Miami, Florida.[1]

Becerra is known for expanding educational access for students and keenly targeting programming to meet societal needs and changing demographics. Her academic career, both as student and professional, has blended mathematics, engineering and systems thinking and processes in her studies, teaching and administrative leadership.

In the four years she has led the academic program at St. Thomas, Becerra has transformed the organizational structure and reinvigorated an institutional commitment to scholarship. St. Thomas University saw a dramatic uptick in enrollment, which included significantly improved retention and graduation rates. Driven to create a culture of remarkable service to students, she also led the expansion of academic offerings, launching 19 new market-driven degrees, including Nursing and Cyber Security.[3] Other initiatives included the development of fully online programs, the establishment of the school's Student Success Center, and implementation of structural changes and new technology, which with other measures improved the business side of providing higher education.

Becerra also initiated the launch of Catholic Education Continuum which provided Catholic High Schools with the latest college prep strategies and opportunities for students to complete the first year in college while in high school, and accelerate to graduation.[4]

Prior to her position as the Provost at St. Thomas University, Becerra worked at Florida International University (FIU) for almost three decades, as a tenured full professor in Management Information Systems and later as Entrepreneurship Center director, Vice-Provost and Vice-President.[5]

In addition to being an accomplished administrator, Becerra is also a scholar. She authored four books and numerous refereed journal articles in the areas of knowledge management and business intelligence, holds four patents and copyrights, and is the author of the books: Business Intelligence: Practices, Technologies, and Management, Knowledge Management: Systems and Processes, and Knowledge Management: Challenges, Solutions, and Technologies and many others. She has delivered keynote speeches and invited presentations across the U.S. and around the globe. Her original research has generated interest from academics as well as business leaders. She has served as an adviser to several organizations, including NASA, on the subject of knowledge management practices. She founded FIU's Knowledge Management Lab and has led major projects as principal investigator at the National Science Foundation, NASA (Headquarters, Kennedy, Ames, and Goddard Space Flight Center) and the Air Force Research Laboratory. She was also a Sloan Scholar at MIT's Center for Information Systems Research. She has authored Op-eds in the Miami Herald and has appeared in numerous T.V. and Radio shows discussing various topics including Hispanic Women Empowerment through education.

Becerra is the recipient of the following awards: 2016 UPS Community Service Award by UPS Florida Latino Business Resource Group, 2015 Educator of the Year by the South Florida Hispanic Chamber of Commerce, 2014 Bronze Medal Award by the Miami Today Newspaper, 2013 Educator of the Year by HENAAC Great Minds in STEM™, 2011 Association of Cuban Engineers Engineer of the Year Award, 2006 FIU Faculty Teaching Award 2004 FIU Outstanding Faculty Torch Award, 2003 Association of Cuban Engineers Amezaga Award for outstanding service to the organization, 2001 FIU Faculty Research Award, 1999 Society of Women Engineers Space Coast Section “National Women's History Month Honoree”, and the 1997 Coalition of Hispanic American Women “Women's History Month Honoree in Science and Technology”. Prior to her employment in academia, she was as a Power Systems Engineer at the System Control Center of Florida Power and Light where she developed computer systems to monitor the reliability of the power system grid. She has a Bachelors and Masters in Electrical Engineering from the University of Miami, and went on to become the first female to earn a Ph.D. in engineering from FIU.

A Cuban-born American whose parents immigrated to the United States when she was an infant, Becerra also lived in Puerto Rico through high school. Those experiences, including her family's understanding that no one can take away your education, shaped both her and her passion for education. Becerra is mother of two adult children, Anthony, an Emory University alumnus and current J.D. and MBA student at St. Thomas University, and Nicole, a Boston College alumna and current director at Macy's Corporation.

Books
Knowledge Management 2008 Edition
  • Rajiv., Sabherwal (2011). Business intelligence : practices, technologies, and management. Becerra-Fernandez, Irma. Hoboken, NJ: Wiley. ISBN 9780470461709. OCLC 465681797.
  • Becerra-Fernandez, Irma (2014-12-05). Knowledge management : systems and processes. Sabherwal, Rajiv (Second ed.). New York. ISBN 9781317503033. OCLC 897810646.
  • Becerra-Fernandez, Irma (2008). Knowledge management : an evolutionary view. Leidner, D. E. (Dorothy E.). Armonk, N.Y.: M.E. Sharpe, Inc. ISBN 9780765623744. OCLC 471133953.
  • Becerra-Fernandez, Irma (2004). Knowledge management : challenges, solutions, and technologies. González, Avelino J., Sabherwal, Rajiv. Upper Saddle River, N.J.: Pearson/Prentice Hall. ISBN 978-0131016064. OCLC 52877851.

Awards and recognition
  • 2016 UPS Community Service Award by UPS Florida Latino Business Resource Group.
  • 2015 Educator of the Year by the South Florida Hispanic Chamber of Commerce.[6][7]
  • 2014 Bronze Medal Award by the Miami Today Newspaper.[8]
  • 2013 Educator of the Year by HENAAC Great Minds in STEM is an organization that promotes the STEM subjects (science, technology, engineering and mathematics) to underserved communities throughout the United States, with the goal to have those students pursue STEM-based careers. The HENAAC Awards recognize the achievements of the nations' top engineers and scientists within the Hispanic community.[9][10]
  • 2012 In the Company of Women Award for Education and Research, a Women's History Month Celebration with support from The Parks Foundation of Miami-Dade, the office of the Mayor and the Board of County Commissioners, March, 2012.[11]
  • 2011 Association of Cuban Engineers, Engineer of the Year Award, for outstanding contributions to the profession.[12]
  • Best Paper Award, First International Conference on Global Defense and Business Continuity (ICGDBC 2007), July 2007, San Jose, CA.
  • Florida International University Pino Center for Entrepreneurship, 2007 Kauffman Entrepreneurship Professor, March 2007.[13]
  • Florida International University College of Business Service Award, October 2006.
  • Florida International University Excellence in Teaching Award, October 2006.
  • Knight Ridder Research Professorship, August 2006.
  • Selected among the faculty for initiation into the professional business fraternity Delta Sigma Pi, for academic achievements and continued interest in the profession, April 2006.
  • Nominated for the Best Paper Award, 38th Hawaii International Conference System Sciences, January 2005, Big Island, Hawaii.
  • Florida International University 2004 Torch Award for Outstanding Faculty (presented by the FIU Alumni Association).[14]
  • Inducted into the “Circle of Compadres”, PhD Project Information Systems Doctoral Students Association, for supporting and openly embracing their role to promote and inspire African-American, Hispanic-American and Native-American Information Systems doctoral students as they pursue their degrees and take their place in the academic profession, August 2004.
  • Association of Cuban Engineers Amezaga Award, for outstanding service to the organization, January 2003.
  • Florida International University Excellence in Research Award, October 2001.
  • Florida International University College of Business CIBER Best International Paper Award, 2001.
  • Society of Women Engineers Space Coast Section, “National Women's History Month Honoree”, 1999.
  • Coalition of Hispanic American Women (CHAW) “Women's History Month Honoree in Science and Technology”1997.
  • Florida International University Award for Outstanding Service in the Area of Access and Equity – 1997.
  • Who's Who in America, Who's Who in Science and Engineering, Who's Who of American Women, and Who's Who in the World, Who's Who in Finance and Industry, Outstanding Young Woman of America.
  • Featured in National Science Foundation's sponsored “Engineering Inspirations” website.[15]

Papers in referred professional journals
  • Beath, C., Becerra-Fernandez, I., Ross, J. and Short, J. (2012) “Finding Value in the Information Explosion” Sloan Management Review. 43(4). 18-20.[16]
  • Xia, W., Becerra-Fernandez, I., S Gudi, A. and S Rocha, J. "Emergency Management Task Complexity and Knowledge Sharing Strategies" Cutter IT Journal, January 2011.[17]
  • Becerra-Fernandez, I., Elam J., and PSP Clemmons, S. “Reversing the landslide in Student Enrollments in Computer-Related Degree Programs” *Communications of the ACM. 53 (2) 127-133.[18]
  • Hoffman, R., Ziebell, D., Fiore, S., and Becerra-Fernandez, I. (2008) Knowledge Management Revisited, IEEE: Intelligent Systems, 23(3) 84-88.[19]
  • Becerra-Fernandez, I. and PS PGudi, A. An Experiential Approach to Teaching Knowledge Management. (2008) International Journal of Teaching and Case Studies (IJTCS), special Issue on: "Teaching Knowledge Management: Integration into Curriculum, Teaching Strategies and Teaching Case Studies”, 1 (3), 171-188.[20]
  • Becerra-Fernandez, I., Cousins, K., Weber, R. (2007) Nomadic Context-Aware Knowledge Management Systems: Applications, Challenges, and Research Problems. International Journal of Mobile Learning and Organisation, 1(2) 103-121.[21]
  • Kumar, K. and Becerra-Fernandez, I. (2007) Interaction Technology: Speech-Act Based Information Technology Support for Building Collaborative Relationships and Trust. Decision Support Systems, 43(2), 584-606.[22]
  • Becerra-Fernandez, I. (2006) Searching for Experts on the Web: A Review of Contemporary Expertise Locator Systems. *ACM Transactions on Internet Technology. 6(4), 333-355.[23]
  • Becerra-Fernandez, I., Del Alto, M. and Stewart, H. (2006) A Case Study of Web-based Collaborative Decision Support at NASA. International Journal of e-Collaboration. 2(3), 49-63.[24]
  • Sabherwal, R. & Becerra-Fernandez, I. (2005) Integrating Specific Knowledge: Insights from the Kennedy Space Center. *IEEE Transactions on Engineering Management, 52(3), 301-315.[25]
  • Becerra-Fernandez, I., Wang, T., Agha, G., PSP Sin, T. (2005) Actor Model and Knowledge Management Systems: Social Interaction as a Framework for Knowledge Integration. Lecture Notes in Computer Science, 3782, 19-31.[26]
  • Becerra-Fernandez, I., Murphy, K., and Elam, J. (2005) Successfully Implementing ERP: The IBM Personal Systems Group Experience. International Journal of Internet and Enterprise Management, 3(1), 78-97.[27]
  • Becerra-Fernandez I. and Sabherwal R., (2005) Knowledge Management at NASA-Kennedy Space Center. International Journal of Knowledge and Learning. 1(1/2). 159-170.[28]
  • Zanakis, S. and Becerra-Fernandez, I. (2005) Competitiveness of Nations: A Knowledge Discovery Examination. *European Journal of Operational Research, 166(1), 185-211.[29]
  • Elam, J. and Becerra-Fernandez, I. (2003) MetalSpectrum: A Virtual Marketplace for Brick-and-Mortar Products. Journal of Information Systems Education (JISE), 14 (3), 285-292.[30]
  • Sabherwal, R. & Becerra-Fernandez, I. (2003) An Empirical Study of the Effect of Knowledge Management Processes at Individual, Group, and Organizational Levels. *Decision Sciences, 34 (2), 225-261.[31]
  • Becerra-Fernandez, I., Zanakis, S., & Walczak, S. (2002) Knowledge Discovery Techniques for Predicting Country Investment Risk. Computers & Industrial Engineering, 43(4), 787-800.[32]
  • Becerra-Fernandez, I., & Sabherwal, R. (2001). Organizational Knowledge Management Processes: A Contingency Perspective. Journal of Management Information Systems, 18(1), 23-55.[33]
  • Becerra-Fernandez, I. (2001) Identifying Potential Markets for the Intellectual Property at Kennedy Space Center and Initial Results. International Journal of Technology Transfer and Commercialisation 1(1/2/3), 1-16.[34]
  • Welty, B., & Becerra-Fernandez, I. (2001). Managing Trust and Commitment in Collaborative Supply Chain Relationships. *Communications of the ACM, 44(6) 67-73.[35]
  • Becerra-Fernandez, I., & Stevenson, J. M. (2001). Knowledge Management Systems and Solutions for the School Principal as Chief Learning Officer. Education, 121(3), 508-518.[36]
  • Weber, R., Aha, D.W., & Becerra-Fernandez, I. (2001). Intelligent Lessons Learned Systems. Expert Systems with Applications, 20(1), 17-34.[37]
  • Becerra-Fernandez, I. (2001) Locating Expertise at NASA – Developing a tool to leverage human capital”. Knowledge Management Review, 4(4), 34-37.[38]
  • Becerra-Fernandez, I. (2000). The Role of Artificial Intelligence Technologies in the Implementation of People-Finder Knowledge Management Systems. Knowledge Based Systems, 13(5), 315-320.[39]
  • Becerra-Fernandez, I., Taylor, A., Buckingham, G., Brown, D., Entessari, A., & Kinney, F. (2000). The NASA/Florida Minority Institution Entrepreneurial Partnership - An Infrastructure to Enable Technology Transfer to Small Businesses. Journal of Technology Transfer, 25(2), 193-203.[40]
  • Becerra-Fernandez, I., Murphy, K., & Simon, S. (2000). Integrating ERP in the Business School Curriculum. *Communications of the ACM, 43(4), 39-41.[41]
gollark: GTech™ NFT™™s are worth between 0 and infinity capital.
gollark: It's cloudscale.
gollark: quintopia, would YOU like an NFT token?!
gollark: But C# is harder to run than Rust, in my IMO.
gollark: Mint new NFTs for each packet transiting your router.

References
  1. "St. Thomas University > Academics > Meet the Provost". Stu.edu. 2014-10-01. Retrieved 2017-07-01.
  2. "Marymount hires new president". www.catholicherald.com. 2018-05-02. Retrieved 2017-07-01.
  3. "St. Thomas University - Academic Programs". Stu.edu. 2016-10-20. Retrieved 2017-07-01.
  4. "St. Thomas University > Admissions > Catholic Education Continuum". Stu.edu. 2016-02-02. Retrieved 2017-07-01.
  5. "Irma Becerra-Fernandez named vice president for Engagement". News.fiu.edu. 2013-04-30. Retrieved 2017-07-01.
  6. "St. Thomas University News: STU Provost Earns SFHCC Education Leadership Award". News.stu.edu. 2016-03-18. Archived from the original on 2017-09-21. Retrieved 2017-07-01.
  7. "North Miami: a City on the Move | Miami-Dade County's Official Economic Development Partnership". Beaconcouncil.com. Archived from the original on 2017-01-11. Retrieved 2017-07-01.
  8. "Gold Medal winners, Lifetime Achiever honored - Miami Today". Miamitodaynews.com. 2014-04-23. Retrieved 2017-07-01.
  9. "Irma Becerra-Fernandez named Education-Administrator of the Year by Great Minds in STEM". News.fiu.edu. 2013-08-22. Retrieved 2017-07-01.
  10. "HENAAC25 Part 5: Education Award Dr. Irma Becerra-Fernandez, FIU". YouTube. 2013-11-26. Retrieved 2017-07-01.
  11. "In the Company of Women Past Winners" (PDF). Miamidade.gov. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2017-02-03. Retrieved 2017-07-01.
  12. "Academic Affairs vice provost hired | | PantherNOW". Fiusm.com. 2011-03-02. Retrieved 2017-07-01.
  13. "Miami Today Profile - Irma Becerra-Fernandez (pt1)". YouTube. 2014-09-19. Retrieved 2017-07-01.
  14. "6812_ARE_TorchAwProCvr" (PDF). Fiualumni.com. Retrieved 2017-07-01.
  16. "Finding Value in the Information Explosion". Sloanreview.mit.edu. 2012-06-19. Retrieved 2017-08-22.
  17. "itj1101.qxd" (PDF). Retrieved 2017-08-22.
  18. Becerra, Irma (2010-02-01). "Reversing the Landslide in Computer-Related Degree Programs". Communications of the ACM. 53 (2): 127–133. doi:10.1145/1646353.1646387.
  19. Hoffman, R.R.; Ziebell, D.; Fiore, S.M.; Becerra-Fernandez, I. (2008-05-20). "Knowledge Management Revisited". IEEE Intelligent Systems. 23 (3): 84–88. doi:10.1109/MIS.2008.51.
  20. Fernandez, Irma Becerra; Gudi, Arvind (2008). "Keep in touch". International Journal of Teaching and Case Studies. 1 (3): 171. doi:10.1504/IJTCS.2008.019176.
  21. Fernandez, Irma Becerra; Cousins, Karlene C.; Weber, Rosina O. (2007). "Keep in touch". International Journal of Mobile Learning and Organisation. 1 (2): 103. doi:10.1504/IJMLO.2007.012673.
  22. Kumar Kuldeep (2007). "Interaction technology: Speech act based information technology support for building collaborative relationships and trust". Decision Support Systems. 43 (2): 584–606. doi:10.1016/j.dss.2005.05.017.
  23. Becerra-Fernandez, Irma (2006). "Searching for experts on the Web". ACM Transactions on Internet Technology. 6 (4): 333–355. doi:10.1145/1183463.1183464.
  24. "A Case Study of Web-Based Collaborative Decision Support at NASA". Semantic Scholar. Retrieved 2017-08-22.
  25. Sabherwal, R.; Becerra-Fernandez, I. (2005-07-18). "Integrating Specific Knowledge: Insights from the Kennedy Space Center". IEEE Transactions on Engineering Management. 52 (3): 301–315. doi:10.1109/TEM.2005.851269.
  26. Becerra-Fernandez, Irma; Wang, Tewei; Agha, Gul; Sin, Thant (2005-10-04). "Actor Model and Knowledge Management Systems: Social Interaction as a Framework for Knowledge Integration". Actor Model and Knowledge Management Systems: Social Interaction as a Framework for Knowledge Integration | SpringerLink. Lecture Notes in Computer Science. 3782. Link.springer.com. pp. 19–31. doi:10.1007/11590019_2. ISBN 978-3-540-30465-4.
  27. Becerra-Fernandez, Irma; E. Murphy, Kenneth; J. Elam, Joyce (1 January 2005). "Successfully implementing ERP: the IBM personal systems group experience". International Journal of Internet and Enterprise Management. 3: 78–97. doi:10.1504/IJIEM.2005.007232 – via ResearchGate.
  28. Becerra-Fernandez, Irma; Sabherwal, Rajiv (2005). "Keep in touch". International Journal of Knowledge and Learning. 1: 159. doi:10.1504/IJKL.2005.006257.
  29. "Competitiveness of nations: a knowledge discovery examination. - Version details - Trove". Trove.nla.gov.au. Retrieved 2017-08-22.
  30. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2017-08-15. Retrieved 2017-08-14.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  31. Sabherwal Rajiv (2003). "An Empirical Study of the Effect of Knowledge Management Processes at Individual, Group, and Organizational Levels". Decision Sciences. 34 (2): 225–260. doi:10.1111/1540-5915.02329.
  32. + flyoverContents[0] + (September 2002). "Knowledge discovery techniques for predicting country investment risk". Comput. Ind. Eng. 43 (4): 787–800. doi:10.1016/S0360-8352(02)00140-7. Retrieved 2017-08-22.
  33. Becerra-Fernandez, Irma; Sabherwal, Rajiv (1 June 2001). "Organizational Knowledge Management: A Contingency Perspective". Journal of Management Information Systems. 18: 23–56. doi:10.1080/07421222.2001.11045676 – via ResearchGate.
  34. Becerra-Fernandez, Irma (2002). "Keep in touch". International Journal of Technology Transfer and Commercialisation. 1: 40. doi:10.1504/IJTTC.2002.001776.
  35. Welty, Bill; Becerra-Fernandez, Irma (June 2001). "Managing trust and commitment in collaborative supply chain relationships". Communications of the ACM. 44 (6): 67–73. doi:10.1145/376134.376170.
  36. "EBSCOhost | 4434342 | KNOWLEDGE MANAGEMENT SYSTEMS & SOLUTIONS FOR THE SCHOOL PRINCIPAL AS CHIEF LEARNING OFFICER". Eds.a.ebscohost.com. Retrieved 2018-08-20.
  37. Weber, Rosina; Aha, David W.; Becerra-Fernandez, Irma (20 August 2018). "Intelligent lessons learned systems". Expert Systems with Applications. 20 (1): 17–34. CiteSeerX 10.1.1.135.4146. doi:10.1016/S0957-4174(00)00046-4 – via Google Scholar.
  38. Becerra-Fernandez, Irma (1 November 2006). "Searching for experts on the Web: A review of contemporary expertise locator systems". ACM Transactions on Internet Technology. 6 (4): 333–355. doi:10.1145/1183463.1183464.
  39. Becerra-Fernandez I (2000). "The role of artificial intelligence technologies in the implementation of People-Finder knowledge management systems". Knowledge-Based Systems. 13 (5): 315–320. CiteSeerX 10.1.1.17.2656. doi:10.1016/S0950-7051(00)00091-5.
  40. Becerra-Fernandez, Irma; Taylor, Ann; Buckingham, Gregg; Kinney, Frank; Brown, Doris; Entessari, Abbass (20 August 2018). "The NASA/Florida Minority Institution Entrepreneurial Partnership: An Infrastructure to Enable Technology Transfer to Small Businesses". The Journal of Technology Transfer. 25 (2): 193–203. doi:10.1023/a:1007828824768.
  41. Becerra-Fernandez, Irma; Murphy, Kenneth E.; Simon, Steven J. (April 2000). "Enterprise Resource Planning: Integrating ERP in the Business School Curriculum". Communications of the ACM. 43 (4): 39–41. doi:10.1145/332051.332066.
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.