A Trio of Women Scholars Who Have Been Appointed to Positions as Provosts

Tricia Serio has been appointed as provost and senior vice chancellor for academic affairs at the University of Massachusetts Amherst. Dr. Serio has been serving as dean of the College of Natural Sciences and as associate chancellor for strategic academic planning. Before coming to Amherst in 2017, Dr. Serioa was a professor and head of the department of molecular and cellular biology at the University of Arizona.

Dr. Serio holds a bachelor’s degree in molecular biology from Lehigh University in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania. She earned a master’s degree and a Ph.D. in molecular biophysics and biochemistry from Yale University and was a postdoctoral fellow in molecular genetics and cell biology at the University of Chicago.

Mignon Jacobs is the new vice president of academic affairs and provost at Virginia Union University in Richmond. Dr. Jacobs joined the university in June 2021. She has been serving as associate provost and professor of Old Testament at the Samuel DeWitt Proctor School of Theology at the university. Prior to joining Virginia Union, Dr. Jacobs served as dean, chief academic officer, and professor of Old Testament studies at Ashland Theological Seminary in Ohio.

Dr. Jacobs is a graduate of Bethel University. She holds a master of divinity degree from the Fuller Theological Seminary in Pasadena, California, and a Ph.D. in religion from Claremont Graduate University in California.

Eva M. Fernández was named provost and vice president for academic affairs at Mercy College in Dobbs Ferry, New York, effective July 1. She has been serving as interim vice president for academic affairs and provost at Guttman Community College of the City University of New York. Prior to her position at Guttman, Dr. Fernández spent 21 years at Queens College of the City University of New York, achieving tenure in 2007 and a full professorship in 2015.

Dr. Fernández is a graduate of New York University, where she majored in linguistics with a concentration in German. She holds a master’s degree and a Ph.D. in linguistics from the Graduate Center of the City University of New York.