Provost,
Gallaudet University

Jane Kelleher Fernandes earned her master's degree in 1980 and her Ph.D. degree in 1986 in comparative literature. Her dissertation research focused on the linguistic form and social function of literature by deaf Iowans and was an interdisciplinary study that brought to light important storytelling traditions of a misunderstood and ignored cultural group. After graduating in 1986, Fernandes became the acting director and assistant professor of the Northeastern University American Sign Language Program. The following year, she joined Gallaudet University as chair of the department of sign communication. Gallaudet soon sent her to its Hawaii campus. For five of her seven years in Hawaii, she also served as the director of the Statewide Center for Students with Hearing and Visual Impairments, thus becoming the first Deaf woman in the United States to head a school for the Deaf. In 1995, Kelleher Fernandes returned to Gallaudet's Washington, D.C. campus to become vice president and director of the Laurent LeClerc National Deaf Education Center. In the spring of 2000, she became the provost of the university. Her impact at Iowa continues to be felt through the American Sign Language program and interdisciplinary Deaf Studies courses.