Sara Xayarath Hernández

Sara Xayarath Hernández

Sara Xayarath Hernández is the Associate Dean for Inclusion & Student Engagement for the Graduate School at Cornell University where she provides vision and strategic management for graduate initiatives and policies focused on advancing diversity and inclusion, addressing inequities, promoting positive systemic change. Hernández works collaboratively with partners within and beyond the Graduate School on initiatives supporting the professional development, academic success, mentoring, and sense of belonging for all graduate students and postdocs, but especially for those from backgrounds historically underrepresented in the academy. Hernández also serves as a member of the university’s Academic Diversity Council led by the Vice Provost for Academic Affairs. She is the PI for an Alfred P. Sloan Foundation grant focused on improving admissions and mentoring practices for graduate students within the Sloan University Centers for Exemplary Mentoring (UCEM) and Sloan Indigenous Graduate Partnership communities. She is a co-PI for the Cornell Sloan UCEM Program and Cornell’s NSF Alliances for Graduate Education and the Professoriate (AGEP) Program. Through AGEP, Hernández co-leads efforts focused on preparing future faculty, enhancing the academic climate, and improving graduate admissions and mentoring practices. Hernández is the chair of the Diversity and Inclusiveness Advisory Committee for the Council of Graduate Schools and is a member of the NSF AGEP Advisory Committee for the Southern Regional Education Board, External Advisory Board for the NSF AGEP Research University Alliance, and NSF ADVANCE Advisory Board for the Social Science Research Council. She is a first-generation college student holding a Bachelor of Arts in Zoology from Ohio Wesleyan University and a Master of Regional Planning from Cornell University.