Jaime Hernandez to teach at Marquette University

The key to any successful track and field relay team is the anchor leg ― the final runner. As each runner passes the baton to the next teammate, he or she can rest assured that the anchor leg will see the team to the finish line in one final push.

Meet Jaime Hernandez, his family’s anchor leg who recently accepted an offer from Marquette University (Milwaukee, Wisconsin) to become an assistant professor of civil engineering after receiving several other offers.

“My wife (Yesica Rojo), I think she was more excited than I was,” Hernandez- joked, “and I was pretty excited. I waited to tell her that I got the offer when I met her at the end of the day.”

The current post-doctorate research associate at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign’s transportation facility — Illinois Center for Transportation — is a native of Colombia, where he grew up watching his father, Alberto Hernandez, pursue an associate’s degree in civil engineering.

“The biggest influence (for me) was my dad,” Hernandez said of his pursuit to study civil engineering. “He was already in his 40s when he decided to go back to school. It was about the time I was finishing high school. Of course, I didn’t think so carefully about this back then that someone that age is so willing to learn and go to school, so I think that’s where the biggest influence comes from.”

Something clicked for Hernandez while watching his father. He wanted to anchor the race his father started to run.

“I never thought about studying anything else,” Hernandez said. “When I applied for college, I just applied for one degree and to one school. It was like all of my eggs were put in just that one basket.”

Hernandez not only earned a bachelor’s degree from the National University of Colombia ― Medellin, but he went on to receive a master’s from Ohio University and his doctorate from UIUC ― all in civil engineering.

Much of that drive for Hernandez comes from his support base ― family, friends and even professors. For Hernandez, his undergraduate studies adviser, professor Jose Dario Aristizabal, was a huge contributor to him achieving his goal.

“He was always motivating us (saying), ‘You need to learn English, you need to take your exams, go to grad school in the U.S. The research you will see there you will not see here in Colombia,’” Hernandez said.

Perhaps the biggest source of support were parents Alberto Hernandez and Olga Urrea who never once doubted their son’s vision.

“Both of my parents are very proud because they know how much I wanted this,” Hernandez said. “That transition between finishing college and coming here to the U.S. for graduate school was not easy for all of us, but they supported me all of the way. They know how hard I worked, and it paid off.”

His efforts paid off tenfold with Hernandez receiving the Transportation Research Board’s 2013-14 Graduate Research Award on Public Sector Aviation for his project titled “Airfield Pavement Response Due to Heavy Aircraft Takeoff: Advanced Modeling for Great Interaction Consideration.”

Before Hernandez completes his stint at UIUC and journeys to Milwaukee, Wisconsin, he can’t help but pause for a moment, thinking of all he’s accomplished at UIUC’s Advanced Transportation Research and Engineering Lab.

“This is where I spent a big portion of my life,” Hernandez said, “and I think being at this level of knowledge for so long is definitely one of the most important things that shaped me.”

His proudest accomplishment? Being a part of a “very good” team with a bunch of “smart kids,” Hernandez joked.

His efforts by no means went undetected by ICT director Imad Al-Qadi, who considers Hernandez an “excellent researcher.”

“He has contributed to the success of ICT in many ways working diligently with his colleagues and sponsors,” Al-Qadi said. “Dr. Hernandez is a rising star, and I would expect him to be a top educator and scholar in a very short time.”

As Hernandez prepares to cross his personal finish line, he dreams of passing the baton on to the next generation.

“I want my future students to flourish,” Hernandez said. “That’s my No. 1 priority. I want to pour (into) them like so many people did for me.”