Winds of Change - Fall 2017 - 47

More specifically,
Hernandez, this year's
Technical Excellence Award
winner, plays a key role in the
nation's defense. "My group
follows the progress and
development of foreign nuclear
weapons programs so that we
can inform policymakers about
what is going on in other nationstates and recommend countermeasures," says Hernandez,
whose fact-based and technically
grounded analyses have helped
guide decisions within the
defense community. On five
occasions, these analyses were
briefed to the president of the
United States.
Not surprisingly, the
work is immensely satisfying
to Hernandez, as is the
opportunity to lead a group of
talented and motivated
colleagues. "Every day we come
in and learn something new.
More than that, our analyses
are actual intelligence products
and are reviewed by and
coordinated with several
government intelligence
agencies," she says. "Every day
we work toward solving hard
technical problems that matter.
My group's analyses support
Sandia's mission to provide
advanced technology for the
defenders of our nation."
But Hernandez didn't arrive
at this rigorous and intensely
demanding role in our nation's
security on a straight and easy
path. By her own account,
Hernandez's life story is "not a
fairy tale." She was raised by
parents who actively discouraged her pursuit of education
and routinely told her that she
was likely to fail in whatever
she did. And it wasn't only at
home that Hernandez was told
she wasn't worthy. While
Hernandez was living in
Denver, one of many places her
father worked as an electrical
engineer, her first-grade
aises.org

teacher told her she was
"uneducable and needed to
be institutionalized."
Yet despite so many people
telling her not to expect much
from her life, Hernandez
persisted. She was motivated
first by a love of music that
led her to enroll at the
University of Central Florida
(UCF). Though she started as
a music major, Hernandez
worried about the long-term
career prospects and
eventually switched to
chemistry. "When I first
started taking chemistry, it
was extremely difficult for
me, and I had a hard time
making good grades," she
says. Eventually, though,
Hernandez realized that
chemistry fit her strengths
- a fact that was reinforced
by her undergraduate mentor
at UCF, Dr. Michael Hampton, who literally demanded
that she follow up her
undergraduate degree by
pursuing a PhD at Texas Tech.
Hernandez followed
Hampton's advice and
graduated from Texas Tech in
four years. It was a course of
study that typically takes more
than seven years. In 1994, as a
new PhD graduate, Hernandez
was recruited by Sandia and
worked in several different
technology groups before
landing her current role.
The negative experiences
that shaped Hernandez have
had a profound impact on her
attitude about leading people
today. "My goal is for everyone
to feel very safe on my team.
We are very inclusive and
want to listen to each other's
ideas, and nobody gets
berated or talked down to,"
she says. "Because of that, I get
the best from everybody, and
it makes it safe for people to
ask questions and learn and
be wrong."

ACS congratulates AISES on 40 Years
of Supporting Native People in STEM!
The American Chemical Society (ACS)
is a global community of 156,000+ members
in 140+ countries. We empower chemists
of today and nurture chemists of the future.

Learn more about ACS at

acs.org/SupportSTEM

FALL 2017 * WINDS OF CHANGE 47


http://www.acs.org/SupportSTEM http://jobs.lanl.gov http://www.aises.org

Winds of Change - Fall 2017

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Winds of Change - Fall 2017

Contents
Winds of Change - Fall 2017 - Intro
Winds of Change - Fall 2017 - Cover1
Winds of Change - Fall 2017 - Cover2
Winds of Change - Fall 2017 - Contents
Winds of Change - Fall 2017 - 2
Winds of Change - Fall 2017 - 3
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Winds of Change - Fall 2017 - Cover3
Winds of Change - Fall 2017 - Cover4
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