Dr. Fernández is currently the Provost and Vice President for Academic Affairs at California State University, San Bernardino (CSUSB). Dr. Fernández received his Bachelor of Science degree in Geology from the City College of New York, a Master of Science degree from the University of Tulsa and his Ph.D. from Syracuse University. Upon completing the requirements for his Ph.D., Dr. Fernández spent three years as a Post-Doctoral Researcher at Yale University where he worked on petrologic problems, including studies on Apollo 11 and 12 lunar samples.
After his Post-Doctoral appointment, Dr. Fernández joined the faculty of the University of New Orleans (UNO) as an Assistant Professor of Geology. He spent 20 years at UNO where he taught, did research and served in a variety of administrative positions. His research was focused principally on volcanic rocks that make up the Sierra Madre Occidental of Mexico. In his last six years at UNO, Dr. Fernández served as the Dean of the College of Science, a position he held until he moved to San Bernardino to assume the position of Dean of the School of Natural Sciences. In 1994, he was appointed Provost and Vice President for Academic Affairs at CSUSB.
Throughout his career, Dr. Fernández has served on a number of university and national committees whose focus was to increase opportunities for minorities and women in the geosciences. In addition to serving on the National Science Foundation's Advisory Committee to the Earth Sciences, he has chaired: The American Geological Institutes Minority Participation Program Advisory Committee; The Geological Society of America's Ad Hoc Committee on Minorities; and the National Association of Geology Teacher's Minority Scholarship Program.
In April of this year, the Hispanic Caucus of the American Association for Higher Education (AAHE) awarded Louis Fernandez the Outstanding Support of Hispanic Issues in Higher Education Award for 2004. This award is given to an individual in the community who has demonstrated outstanding accomplishment and support of Hispanic issues.
