Dr. Carol Hernandez
Vice President of Instruction Candidate
Dr. Carol Hernandez is currently the Dean of Math, Sciences, and Business at the College of Marin. She previously served as the Math, Engineering, Science, Achievement (MESA) Program Director at Los Medanos College, co-principal investigator for the National Science Foundation Grant S-STEM, and as a full-time biology faculty member at Highline Community College. During her time at Los Medanos College, Dr. Hernandez was on planning teams that raised over $5 million dollars in funding and led the development of the STEM Scholars Program supported by the NSF S-STEM grant which provided scholarships to low income underserved students.
As the Dean of Math, Sciences, and Business at the College of Marin, Dr. Hernandez provides leadership over the following six departments (21 programs): Physical Sciences, Life and Earth Sciences, Mathematics, Social Sciences, Behavioral Sciences, and Business. During Dr. Hernandez’s tenure at the College of Marin, she has been a Strategic Plan Champion, a Standard I co-chair, an Accreditation Steering Task Force Committee member, an Indian Valley Campus (IVC) Strategic Planning Committee co-chair, and a Standard II Accreditation Committee member. Dr. Hernandez has also served on the District’s Negotiation’s team, Labor Management Team, and Union District Workload Committee in addition to several participatory governance committees.
In 2017 the College of Marin developed the Inclusion, Diversity, Equity, Action (IDEA) committee to help the College of Marin reach its equity and inclusion goals, which Dr. Hernandez was initially selected to co-chair. She has since passed the co-chair baton, but remains an active member of the team. Just prior to the pandemic, Dr. Hernandez worked to create a new learning community for STEM students focused on providing support to students of color with the goal of diversifying the STEM pipeline. The STEM Learning Community became a vibrant part of the community college campus and is now transitioning into becoming a Math, Engineering, Science, Achievement (MESA) Program.
Dr. Hernandez earned a Bachelor’s degree in Chemistry from Emory University, a Master of Natural Science degree in Biology from the University of Idaho, and a Master of Arts degree in Educational Leadership and Doctorate of Educational Leadership from Mills College. She is a first generation American and member of the LGBTQ community and committed to providing opportunities and academic support to diverse students through an anti-racist lens. She currently lives in Pacifica, CA with her wife, two sons, and dog where they enjoy the Bay Area’s beaches and parks.
