
Since 2008, Dr. Fernandes has served as provost and vice chancellor for academic affairs at the University of North Carolina at Asheville. She is the former provost at Gallaudet University in Washington, D.C. Dr. Fernandes was born deaf.
Dr. Fernandes is a native of Worcester, Massachusetts. She earned a bachelor’s degree at Trinity College in Hartford, Connecticut, and a master’s degree and a Ph.D. in comparative literature from the University of Iowa.


